Shades Mountain Elementary Honored As Alabama Safe School

MONTGOMERY, AL — Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall announced winners of the 2019 Safe Schools Initiative Awards, and Hoover's Shades Mountain Elementary School had the top score in its division.

This year, the program was expanded to include three awards for highest excellence in school safety as well as certificates of special recognition for schools building a culture for school safety. These new categories are in addition to the traditional safe school awards for each public school district and for a private school.

For the Attorney General’s 2019 Safe Schools Award, one public school with the top score was selected for each of the eight state public school districts and one private school statewide. The winners are:

• District 1: Pleasant Home School, Andalusia
• District 2: Loachapoka High School, Loachapoka
• District 3: Shades Mountain Elementary School, Hoover
• District 4: Northridge Middle School, Tuscaloosa
• District 5; Prattville Junior High School, Prattville
• District 6: Austin High School, Decatur
• District 7: Forest Hills Elementary, Florence
• District 8: Discovery Middle School, Madison
• Private school: Lee-Scott Academy, Auburn

As well, two other Hoover schools will receive the Attorney General’s 2019 Certificate of Building a Culture for School Safety — R.F. Bumpus Middle School and Trace Crossings Elementary School.

"The safety of our schoolchildren is a vital matter foremost in all of our minds and hearts, and this year we have enhanced the Safe Schools Initiative Awards to encourage and honor more of those who have implemented strong programs to protect our students, teachers and other staff," Marshall said. "These schools have developed innovative programs and taken practical, effective steps to combat the threat of violence that has become a terrible part of our modern society. Their dedication and resolve to provide a safe haven for learning is an inspiration to us all."