Background of the Population


Montgomery is the capitol city of the State of Alabama.  It is the second largest populated city and county in the state.  Montgomery Public Schools (MPS) cover the entire county of 785 square miles with 232,000 people living in urban, suburban, and rural areas.  MPS is the third largest employer in Montgomery County and the third largest school system in the state.
The school system has an enrollment of more than 30,840 students representing nearly seventy percent of the school-age children in the city and county.  Of the students residing in Montgomery County, seventy eight percent are African American, thirteen percent are Caucasian, four percent are Hispanic, three percent are Asian, and two percent identify themselves with other ethnicities.  According to the U.S. Census, Montgomery County’s median household was slightly above the state average of $44,587.  At least twenty percent of the families in the county are living below the federal poverty. Prior to the implementation of the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act provided during the 2014-2015 school year, nearly seventy-three percent of MPS were receiving either free or reduced lunches.
Currently, students and staff attend classes in fifty-four separate school buildings, thirty-four elementary schools, eleven middle schools, and nine high schools.  Ten schools are identified as magnet schools, two are alternative schools, and one is for students who are severely cognitively and physically impaired.  The system also operates an Arboretum, an outdoor classroom, a Pre-Kindergarten Center, and serves school-aged children who are incarcerated in the Montgomery County Youth Facility (Public Schools K-12, 2015; Montgomery Public Schools, 2015).

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