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By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Managing Editor

According to the latest rankings released by Niche.com for 2022, all four school districts inside Shelby County are among the top 30 districts in the state.

That includes Hoover City Schools, Pelham City Schools, Alabaster City Schools and Shelby County Schools.

All three of the city school districts are ranked inside the top 15, while Shelby County Schools earned the No. 30 spot on the dot.

Hoover City Schools was the highest-ranked school system in the county and the fifth-ranked system in the state.

HCS received an overall Niche grade of A+ thanks to receiving breakdown grades of A+ for academics, A+ for clubs and activities, A+ for college prep, A+ for health and safety, A for teachers and A– for diversity.

Behind Hoover was Pelham City Schools as the 12th-ranked school system in the state and the second best in the county, according to Niche’s list. That also makes it the best sole school district in Shelby County with Hoover splitting between Shelby and Jefferson counties.

Pelham received an overall Niche grade of A thanks to receiving an A– for academics and an A for the remaining five categories.

Just two spots behind Pelham was the Alabaster City School system. ACS sits at No. 14 in the rankings and also received an overall grade of A.

Alabaster City Schools holds an A in clubs and activities, diversity and college prep, while it has an A– in academics, teachers and health and safety.

Shelby County Schools was also one of the top districts in the state at 30th in the rankings. The school system ranks as the fourth-highest county school system in the state behind only Madison (26th), Marengo (28th) and Baldwin (29th).

SCS received an overall Niche grade of A– with an A– in academics and college prep and a B+ in teachers, clubs and activities and diversity. The school system received a B for health and safety.

Shelby County is also home to some of the top elementary schools in the state as well with Greystone and Calera elementary schools both ranked inside the top 50 elementary schools in Alabama.

Greystone, a member of Hoover City Schools, ranked 21st in the state with an overall Niche grade of A, while Calera ranked 41st with an overall grade of A as well.

Wilsonville (60th), Creek View(65th), Oak Mountain (69th), Pelham Oaks (77th), Mt Laurel (83rd) and Meadow View (99th) all ranked inside the top 100 elementary schools in the state, while Oak Mountain Intermediate (74th) also cracked the top 100.

The rest of the rankings saw Chelsea Park in 121st, Inverness in 141st, Pelham Ridge in 142nd, Forrest Oaks in 166th, Thompson Intermediate in 167th, Vincent in 168th, Shelby in 184th, Montevallo in 209th, Helena Intermediate in 216th, Elvin Hill in 274th and Calera Intermediate in 317th.

Beyond that, Helena Elementary wasn’t ranked but finished with an overall Niche grade of B.

To view a list of the best high schools in the state, click here.

Factors considered for the Best Public High School ranking include the following grades and weights: academics, 60 percent; culture and diversity, 10 percent; parent/student surveys and overall experience, 10 percent; teachers, 10 percent; clubs and activities, 2.5 percent; health and safety, 2.5 percent; resources and facilities, 2.5 percent; and sports, 2.5 percent.

The same methodology is used to produce the Overall Niche Grade for ranked and additional schools.