13 public K-12 schools in Bessemer from NCES Common Core of Data: enrollment, grade span, demographics, and Civil Rights Data Collection statistics for every active campus.
National city placement
According to NCES CCD 2024-25, Bessemer has more public-school enrollment than 62% of the 4,487 US cities in this directory. Bessemer's average Resource Investment Index falls in the lower portion of the 4,487-city comparison set. The index is a resource snapshot, not an academic grade: it reflects the federal staffing, counselor, gifted-program, and attendance fields available for local campuses. The most useful next step is to open the individual schools below and identify which component is pulling each score down, because the same city average can hide very different campus-level constraints.
7 of Bessemer's 13 listed schools use NCES's combined or “other” grade-level classification. Citywide averages therefore blend campuses serving unusually broad or nonstandard grade spans with conventional elementary, middle, and high schools. Grade configuration is a first-order comparison here, not a minor label.
The 45-point gap between Greenwood Elementary School and Alabama Aerospace and Aviation High School shows the range hidden by Bessemer's average Resource Investment Index. The city figure is useful for national placement, but families ultimately choose among campuses with different grade spans, enrollment, district affiliations, and reported support fields. Start with schools serving the relevant grade level, then compare the index components rather than assuming the city average describes any one classroom.
Bessemer school enrollment ranges from 161 students (lowest) to 777 students (highest), a spread of 616 students. That relatively narrow ratio reflects an unusually homogeneous school portfolio for a city this size. Per-school staffing and program breadth can differ sharply at opposite ends of that enrollment range, so the city average should not be treated as a typical campus.
Source: NCES Common Core of Data NCES Common Core of Data
The reported share sits between 62.5% and 75%, above a simple majority but below the highest descriptive band used here. Title I operates under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA, 2015), but its statutory allocation uses additional LEA-level counts and rules not represented by this average. This percentage is an economic-need context measure; it does not establish a Title I award, show dollars received, or describe how funds are distributed among campuses.
Source: NCES Common Core of Data NCES Common Core of Data
student-teacher ratio is the simplest comparative metric but it does not capture the full picture: the ratio counts FTE classroom teachers against total enrollment, push-in specialists, English-language aides, special-education co-teachers, and counselors are not included in most reporting Higher values may reflect larger urban scale or recent resource constraints that have widened the gap.
Source: NCES Common Core of Data, Public School Universe NCES Common Core of Data, Public School Universe
15% of the city's listed public-school campuses are reported as charter schools in NCES CCD. Charter status identifies a different governance arrangement; it does not establish admissions availability, academic quality, or the share of city students enrolled in those campuses. Open each school record to compare enrollment and staffing directly.
Source: NCES Common Core of Data NCES Common Core of Data
| # | School | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Greenwood Elementary School | 45 |
| 2. | Charles F Hard Elementary School | 44 |
| 3. | Abrams Elementary School | 43 |
| 4. | Oak Grove High School | 39 |
| 5. | Bessemer City High School | 38 |
| 6. | Concord Elementary School | 38 |
| 7. | Mccalla Elementary School | 35 |
| 8. | Bessemer City Middle School | 34 |
| 9. | Oak Grove Elementary School | 34 |
| 10. | Westhills Elementary School | 34 |
| 11. | Jonesboro Elementary School | 28 |
| 12. | Alabama Aerospace and Aviation High School | - |
| 13. | Empower Community School | - |
Ranked by the Simpson student-body diversity index (0-100) from NCES race and ethnicity data, where higher means a more evenly mixed student body. It measures mix, not quality.
Greenwood Elementary School has the highest Resource Investment Index among the Bessemer schools in this federal-data comparison at 45/100. The index summarizes reported staffing, counseling, gifted-program, and attendance inputs; it is not an academic rating.
Bessemer has 13 public schools with a total enrollment of 5,879 students. 2 are charter schools. Average student-teacher ratio: 20.4:1.
Side-by-side: Compare any two schools or districts in Alabama →
Data from NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 and Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) 2021-22. The Resource Investment Index uses reported student-teacher ratio, counselor access, gifted programs, and attendance; it is not an academic rating. Cities must include at least five schools to be listed. This public-data comparison is for informational purposes: verify current enrollment, attendance boundaries, and programs with the school district before acting. See the guide to understanding NCES data.
