Spain Park High School

Spain Park High School (SPHS) is a four-year public high school in the Birmingham, Alabama, suburb of Hoover. It is the smaller of two high schools in the Hoover City School System. School colors are Carolina blue, black, and white, and the athletic teams are called the Jaguars. SPHS competes in AHSAA Class 6A athletics.

Spain Park High School
Location
4700 Jaguar Drive Hoover , Alabama 35242 United States
Coordinates	33°23′32″N 86°43′44″W
Information
Type	Public
Opened	2001 (24 years ago) (2001)
School district	Hoover City Schools
CEEB code	010381
Principal	Amanda Esslinger
Faculty	94.45 (on an FTE basis)[1]
Grades	09-12
Enrollment	1,502 (2023–2024)[1]
Student to teacher ratio	15.90[1]
Color(s)	Light Blue, Black, and White
Athletics	AHSAA Class 7A
Mascot	Jaguars
Newspaper	The Jag
Yearbook	The Rosette
Website	www.hoovercityschools.net/sphs

Recognition

SPHS is consistently recognized as one of the best high schools in Alabama:

• SPHS is one of 12 schools in Alabama to be included in the Washington Post's 2015 list of America's Most Challenging High Schools.^[2]
• SchoolDigger ranks SPHS 8th among 365 high schools in the state of Alabama and 3rd among high schools in the Birmingham-Hoover metropolitan area.^[3]
• Niche ranks SPHS 4th in the state of Alabama and 3rd among high schools in the Birmingham-Hoover metropolitan area.^[4]
• The U.S. Department of Education has recognized SPHS as a National Blue Ribbon School and awarded it the National Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence Award.^[5][6]

Student Profile

Enrollment in grades 9–12 for the 2022-23 school year was 1,634 students. Approximately 61% of students are white, 22% are African-American, 6% are Asian-American, 6% are Hispanic, and 5% are multiracial. Roughly 18% of students qualify for free or reduced price lunch.^[7]

SPHS has a graduation rate of 92%. Ninety-eight percent of its students meet or exceed proficiency standards in both reading and mathematics. The average ACT score for SPHS students is 24.^[8]

Athletics

SPHS competes in AHSAA Class 6A athletics.^[9] and fields teams in the following sports:^[10]

• Baseball
• Basketball
• Bowling
• Cheerleading
• Cross Country
• Dance
• Football
• Golf
• Indoor Track & Field
• Lacrosse
• Outdoor Track & Field
• Soccer
• Softball
• Swimming and Diving
• Tennis
• Volleyball
• Wrestling

SPHS has won state championships in the following sports:^{[citation needed]}

• Lacrosse (2011, 2012, 2015, 2016)
• Baseball (2014)
• Boys' golf (2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016)
• Girls' golf (2009, 2017)
• Boys' indoor track and field (2012)
• Girls' soccer (2004, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2022)
• Boys' soccer (2021)
• Boys' tennis (2007)
• Boys' bowling (2016, 2017)
• Girls' basketball (2018)

Spain Park's football team was shown on MTV's television program Two-A-Days, as an opponent of arch-rival Hoover High.^[11]

Notable alumni

• Tyler Grisham (2005) – football player, NFL^[12]
• Chris Ellis (2010) – baseball player, MLB^[13][14]
• Simone Charley (2013) – soccer player, NWSL^[15]
• Nick Mullens (2013) – football player, NFL^[16]
• Michael Jackson (2015) – football player, NFL^[17]
• Austin Wiley (2016) – basketball player who plays in Israel^[18]
• Colton Ledbetter (2020)– baseball player in the Tampa Bay Rays organization^[19]