Oak Mountain High School

Oak Mountain High School (OMHS) is a high school in Shelby County, Alabama. Oak Mountain High School is part of the Shelby County School System. Its location is next door to Oak Mountain Intermediate School on Caldwell Mill Road. The principal is K. Sayers. The assistant principals are P. Barrett, A. Fineburg, A. Gunn, and D. LeBlanc. Oak Mountain currently houses 414 seniors, 423 juniors, 455 sophomores, 420 freshmen for a total of 1712 students. It was built in 1998. It has a 210,000-square-foot (20,000 m²) campus, covering forty-five acres. Oak Mountain High School was named a 2011 Blue Ribbon School by the United States Department of Education, the highest honor awarded to secondary schools (public or private) by the department.

Extra-curricular activities

Sports facilities on campus include a practice gymnasium, a competition gym seating 2,000 fans, baseball and softball stadiums, a band practice field, and soccer practice fields. A multi-purpose stadium, seating 5,000 spectators, was also built on Hwy. 119 to house the football, soccer, and track and field events.

Four Show Choirs exist at Oak Mountain: Con Brio, Chanter, Women's Chamber, and Honors. Con Brio (the mixed show choir), Chanter and Women's Chamber (female advanced and beginner show choirs, respectively) and the Honors (the mixed festival choir).

The band, which is nationally recognized for their excellence, includes 3 concert bands (Wind Ensemble, Symphonic, and Concert), 2 jazz bands, a percussion ensemble, marching and pep band, and various chamber groups.

Band

The band program is nationally recognized having had groups within it invited to perform for a variety of national and state-wide events. Most notably are the invitations extended by Percussive Arts Society to the Percussion Ensemble, to perform at their international convention in 2007, the invitation extended to the Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band to perform at Carnegie Hall in 2010 and 2015, their first place award at Grand National Adjudicators Invitational in 2014, and their performance in An Oak Mountain Christmas with guest singer, Carrie Tillis, at the historic Alabama Theater in 2010 and 2011.

From mainstream to swing, the Oak Mountain Jazz Band demonstrates a more laid back aspect of the music program. Performances by the Jazz Ensemble are celebrations of music for the audience as well as the musician. Membership in the Jazz Band is strictly by audition and requires extra rehearsal time for its members. In addition to the normal complement of instrumentation, Oak Mountain also makes use of vocal talent from within the band.

Nationally recognized, the Oak Mountain Percussion Ensemble represents percussion at its finest. Members utilize all aspects of the percussive experience, often playing instruments in ways not typically thought. While utilizing an assortment of traditional percussive instruments, the ensemble is able to give voice to something as utilitarian as a plastic bucket.

The Oak Mountain “Spirit of Cahaba” Marching Band performs at all of the high school’s football games as well as marching contests throughout the fall. The marching band consistently garners superior ratings and captures many of the best in class and best overall awards. Rehearsals in the marching band begin in mid-July and continue throughout the fall. Some units within the band actually begin rehearsals for the fall season during the spring.

Mission statement

"The mission of Oak Mountain High School is to create an atmosphere of excellence where all students are encouraged to achieve their academic, creative, and physical potential through dynamic instructional methods (including 21st Century skills), extracurricular experiences, and relationships among students, staff, parents, and the community."

External links

• Oak Mountain High School homepage