Homewood Middle School

Homewood Middle School, located at 395 Mecca Avenue on the corner of Valley Avenue, is the only school in Homewood City Schools serving grades sixth, seventh, and eighth.

The principal is Martin Nalls. The school's colors are red, white, and blue and the school teams are called the Patriots.

History

The original building was built as Homewood Junior High School, part of Jefferson County Schools, in the 1950s. It was located at 1108 Frisco Street. When Homewood later began its own school system, the school became a part of it.

New campus

In 1998, the Homewood Board of Education began investigating whether to renovate the school or build a new one. In 1999, the Board hired architects Giattina Fisher Aycock to conduct a study on the matter. Ulitmately, it was decided to build a new school. Property containing The Club Apartments on Valley Avenue, which was adjacent to the existing middle school campus, was purchased for construction of the new school in 2001. Demolition of the apartments began in 2002.

Giattina Fisher Aycock designed the new school and the Brasfield & Gorrie firm acted as construction manager. Several ecology-friendly measures, such as separating scrap materials, were implemented during construction and energy-saving measures were incorporated into the school's design in an effort to get Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification by the United States Green Building Council. The effort succeeded, resulting in the new Homewood Middle School becoming the first school in the nation to receive LEED certification.

The new school opened to students on January 4, 2005. The old school campus is being renovated to house offices for the Homewood Board of Education.

Principals

• Joseph Prickett (1956–1966)
• Don Cornutt (1975–1992)
• John Dedrick (?–1998)
• Cindy Cason (1998–2001)
• Patsy Stanley (2001–2004)
• Bill Cleveland (2004–2007)
• Kevin Maddox (2007–2008)
• Martin Nalls (2008–present)

Accomplishments

• United States Department of Education "Blue Ribbon School"; 1983–84, 1996–97.

External Links

• Homewood Middle School official website

References

• "Homewood Weighs Middle School Options." (August 26, 1998). The Birmingham News.
• "Guidance Sought on Rebuild vs. Renovate." (September 15, 1999). The Birmingham News.
• Hickerson, Patrick. (August 27, 2003). "Homewood Wants 'Green' Title on New Middle School." The Birmingham News.
• "Homewood Middle designed to conserve energy." (March 4, 2005). Birmingham Business Journal. Web version.
• "Dream of New HMS Is a Reality." (n.d.) Retreived October 19, 2006 from [1].
• "Southern area set to see lots of growth in 2007." (January 3, 2007). The Birmingham News.