Special to the Tribune
BIRMINGHAM – Parents in East Lake and the surrounding communities will now have another choice when deciding where to send their high school age children.
Banks Academy, Inc., a new private Christian high school designed for the East Lake community of Birmingham is scheduled to officially open this August. The school will be holding classes at 8301 8th Avenue South, the original building of Lakewood Baptist Church. The school plans to begin with a ninth grade and add a class each year until ninth through twelfth grades are established.
In coordination with plans to open this summer, the school recently announced the hiring of Trussville resident Dr. Kathy King as Banks Academy’s first school principal.
“Banks Academy will provide ‘school choice’ for the parents and students in the eastern section of Birmingham,” said King. “As a 1976 Banks High School graduate myself, I am encouraged to see former Banks alums and other people in the Birmingham areas come together and support the new school. I look forward to seeing the community that provided me with an outstanding education offer the same type of opportunity for high school age children now living in the Eastern section of Birmingham.
King brings extensive expertise in education, having been an assistant principal for seven years, a principal for five years and the Director of Auxiliary Services for Leeds City Schools since 2007.
The Banks name is not unfamiliar to the East Lake community. In 1957, Banks High School began with a ninth grade class only. The school quickly became a pillar of the community and achieved great success in academics and athletics. From 1957 through 1989, an estimated 9,000 students attended the school.
The original Banks High School became a powerhouse in the state of Alabama in football and was also recognized nationally, a time in school history which will be showcased later this year in the movie “Woodlawn”.
Coach George “Shorty” White, head football coach at Banks High School from 1961-74, won three state championships, along with producing 88 or more Division One football scholarship players. In 1973, White was named National Coach of the Year. Robert Higginbotham, Mike Dutton, Bill Burgess and Ronnie Baynes were a few of the other successful coaches at Banks.
“We pray Banks Academy is a successful school that will impact the East Lake community in many positive ways,” said White. “It would be a wonderful thing to see the name being used again for a good cause.”
Some notable Banks High School alumni include former Alabama House member and current 10th District judge John Amari (1966); former Ole Miss and current Duke University Head Football Coach David Cutcliffe (1972); College Football Hall of Fame member Johnny Musso (1968); teachers Elizabeth Hatch, Mary Shields and Benny Russell; college football standouts Jimmy Sidle, Larry Willingham, Billy Strickland, Gary and Jeff Rutledge, Billy Shields, Bobby Johns, Donnie and Johnny Johnston, Danny Collins, Joe and John Shaw, Rick Neal, Mike and Rick Neel; songwriter and recording artist Beth Thornley; syndicated columnist John Archibald; Bryan Morgan and many others. The high school was discontinued in 1989 when the building was transformed into a middle school. It closed in 2006.
Banks Academy is urging those with a desire to join in the school’s everlasting impact on the youth and families in this Birmingham community to get involved. The school is accepting donations on the Banks Academy website.
Banks Academy is not associated with the group that was cleaning up the original Banks High School location.