By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

Children in several Shelby County communities attend the best public schools in Alabama, according to a list recently compiled by national ranking website.

Niche.com recently released its “2017 Places with the best public schools in Alabama” list, which ranked public schools based on state test scores, graduation rates, SAT or ACT scores, teacher quality and student and parent reviews. To view the entire list, visit https://www.niche.com/places-to-live/rankings/places/best-public-schools/s/alabama.

Hoover, which is partially in Shelby County, came in at No. 5 on the list behind Madison, Vestavia Hills, Homewood and Mountain Brook. Hoover earned an overall school grade of A-plus on the website, with Greystone Elementary, Berry Middle, Riverchase Elementary and Spain Park High all earning grades of A-plus.

The next Shelby County city on the list was Alabaster, which came in at No. 14 and earned an overall public school grade of A-minus. Creek View Elementary earned a grade of A, Meadow View Elementary, Thompson Middle and Thompson Sixth Grade Center earned grades of A-minus and Thompson High and Thompson Intermediate earned grades of B-plus

The Shelby County communities of Brook Highland, Chelsea, Columbiana, Indian Springs Village, Meadowbrook, Montevallo and Pelham were in a seven-way tie for 16^th place on the list.

Brook Highland, which is off U.S. 280 earned an overall grade of A-minus for its public school offerings. Oak Mountain Elementary and Oak Mountain High School earned grades of A, Chelsea Middle School, Chelsea Park Elementary, Inverness Elementary, Mt Laurel Elementary, Oak Mountain Intermediate and Oak Mountain Middle earned grades of A-minus. Chelsea High School earned a grade of B-plus.

Chelsea also earned an overall grade of A-minus for its public schools, sharing the same individual school rankings as Meadowbrook.

Columbiana earned an overall grade of A-minus for its public school offerings, as Shelby Elementary and Wilsonville Elementary earned grades of A-minus, Columbiana Middle and Elvin Hill Elementary earned grades of B-plus and Shelby County High earned a grade of B.

Indian Springs Village also earned an overall public school grade of A-minus, and its children attend Oak Mountain Schools.

Meadowbrook, which is also off U.S. 280 and shares the same individual school rankings as Brook Highland, earned an overall grade of A-minus.

Montevallo earned an overall grade of A-minus for its public schools, as Montevallo Middle earned an A-minus, Montevallo Elementary earned a B-plus and Montevallo High School earned a B-minus.

Pelham rounded out the seven-way tie, and also earned an overall A-minus public school grade. Its individual public school grades were not listed on Niche.com.

Calera came in at No. 25 on the list, and also earned an overall public school grade of A-minus. Calera Elementary earned an A, and Calera High and Calera Middle earned grades of B-plus.