Wylam K-8 School

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Wylam K-8 School
Wylam Elementary School.jpg
BCS small logo.png Birmingham City Schools
Years 1900present
Location 701 Erie Street Wylam, (map)
Wylam
Grades K-8
Principal Ashley Samuels
Enrollment 464 (2014)
Colors blue & gold
Mascot Wildcats
Website bhamcityschools.org

Wylam K-8 School (formerly Wylam Elementary School) is a K-8 school in the Birmingham Public School System located at 701 Erie Street at the intersection of 7th Avenue in Wylam.

The first Wylam School was constructed by the then-independent Town of Wylam in 1900. It was absorbed into the Birmingham system as part of the Greater Birmingham annexations of 1910. The present school building was constructed in 1922 to designs by architect David O. Whilldin. The school was one of a group of new elementary schools planned during the early 1920s with the help of St Louis-based consultant William Itten. Whilldin adapted the plan into a three-winged variant to take advantage of the site's natural slope. The auditorium at the rear was built over a cafeteria and shops on a basement level emerging from the hillside. The school's library was located above the entranceway and featured a large bay window.

Under a school consolidation plan proposed by acting superintendent Barbara Allen and approved by the Board, Wylam Elementary began accepting students from A. G. Gaston K-8 School after the 2011 school year. On December 9, 2008 the Board of Education approved an $11.1 million contract with the Argo Building Company for a new Wylam K-8 School building to house the increase in enrollment. The new building, designed by Exford Architects, opened to students in 2010.

In 2013, under the terms of the Alabama Accountability Act, Wylam K-8 School was deemed a "failing school", permitting parents to claim tax credits to transfer students to another school.

Principals

References