Huntsville City Schools
School district serving Huntsville, Alabama
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Huntsville City Schools is the school district serving Huntsville, Alabama.[2] As of the 2025–26 school year, the system had 23,816 students and employed 2,894 personnel.[3] The district oversees 43 schools: 26 PreK-elementary schools, 11 middle schools, 6 high schools, 1 Virtual School, and 3 magnet schools.[4]
| Huntsville City Schools | |
|---|---|
| Address | |
200 White Street
, 35801United States | |
| Coordinates | 34°44′02″N 86°34′41″W |
| District information | |
| Grades | PK-12 |
| Superintendent | Dr. Clarence Sutton, Jr. |
| Asst. superintendent(s) | A.J. Buckner |
| Schools | 43 |
| NCES District ID | 0101800[1] |
| Students and staff | |
| Students | 24,083 |
| Teachers | 1,697 |
| Staff | 766 |
| Student–teacher ratio | 13.45 |
| Other information | |
| Website | huntsvillecityschools.org |
The school system finished the 2010 fiscal year with a debt of nearly $20 million the largest of any school system in Alabama by a significant margin.[5] However, after Casey Wardynski was appointed superintendent, he worked to erase the school system's debt and bring the budget into surplus.[6]
It is partially within Madison County,[7] and partially in Limestone County.[8]
History
In 2014 officials from the school district began monitoring social media activity from students. The officials stated that a phone call from the National Security Agency (NSA) prompted them to do so.[9] In the 2013 fiscal year it paid Chris McRae, a former agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), to run this program.[10]
On April 13th, 2026, Huntsville City Schools achieved unitary status in two areas of its 2015 consent order with the US. Department of Justice. This action released Huntsville City Schools from federal supervision in the areas of Faculty/Staff and Extracurricular Activities. [11]
Feeder pattern
Huntsville City Schools has five feeder patterns. Huntsville City Schools also hosts five schools that fall outside of any feeder pattern.
Columbia Feeder Pattern
- Columbia High School
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Grissom Feeder Pattern
- Grissom High School
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Huntsville Feeder Pattern
- Huntsville High School
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Jemison Feeder Pattern
- Jemison High School
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Lee Feeder Pattern
- Lee High School
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Elementary schools
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Middle schools
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High schools
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Others
- Community Intensive Treatment for Youth (C.I.T.Y.) (alternative school)
- Huntsville Center for Technology (vocational school)
Priority schools
The Alabama Department of Education publishes data on schools labeled as "Priority" schools in the state. This is in conjunction with the Alabama Accountability Act. To be labeled "Priority", they must be designated as priority by the state superintendent or receive a D or F on their state report card.[12] The following Huntsville City schools were placed on the state priority list as of the 2024 school year:[13]
- Artemis Virtual Academy
- Jemison High School
- Whitesburg Middle School
- Ronald McNair 7-8
Former schools
- Chapman Elementary School
- J.O. Johnson High School[14]
- S.R. Butler High School[15]
- R.L. Stone Middle School[16]
- Terry Heights Elementary School[17]
- Fletcher E. Seldon Center[18]
- Ed White Middle School
- Davis Hills Middle School
Board of Education
- District 1 - North Huntsville (Currently held by Chaundra Jones)
- District 2 - East Huntsville (Currently held by Holly McCarty, Third Presiding Officer)
- District 3 - South Huntsville (Currently held by Andrea Alvarez)
- District 4 - Downtown Huntsville (Currently held by Ryan Renaud, Vice President)
- District 5 - West Huntsville (Currently held by Carlos Matthews, President)
Officeholders are current as of 4/26/2026[19]
Revitalization
Currently, a major overhaul of the cities school facilities and curriculum is occurring. In 2012, a new digital curriculum was issued, giving all students laptops and increasing digital usage for teaching. This was done to take advantage of the growing use of computers and to help give students easy access to information and organization. In 2011, a $194 million five year capital plan was granted by the Alabama Board of Education to the Huntsville City School System. With this, the city plans to renovate and construct new facilities for many of its aging campuses. These include a new Blossomwood Elementary School, New Freshman Academy for Huntsville High School, construction of a new building and campus for the combination of Lee High School and New Century Technological School, construction of a new Whitesburg Elementary, Virgil I. Grissom High School (the cities largest student body), and J. O. Johnson High School. Renovations and consolidations for many other of the cities schools is also planned. Columbia High School attracted national attention in August 2026 for its football team breaking a 101-game losing streak.[20] It defeated Greensboro High School 41–14.[20]
