Mobile Local Guide

Schools & Education

In 1830, Springhill College, the first Catholic college in the country opened in Mobile. It was founded by the Jesuit Order. Although Protestants out numbered Catholics at the time, the school thrived by receiving enrollment from around the nation. Springhill is touted as one of the nation’s finest institutions today.

Mobile, Alabama has not only the oldest, but also the biggest public school system in the United States. It maintains more than 100 schools and educates over sixty-five thousand students.

In 1830, the Catholic diocese named Mobile as an Archdiocese. Today Mobile has more than forty parochial schools operated by the Archdiocese. Mobile is still active with pioneering endeavors, as it is one of only seven school systems in the nation that are part of a new program involving newly redesigned college boards.

The Alabama School of Mathematics and Science is located in Mobile. The school hosts students from all over the state who wish to receive a specialized education and also serves the local students who want to add to their education.

The school system never ceases to improve and refine its educational opportunities. In fact, the students and the parents of the community are equally as involved in the decision-making processes that take place in Mobile. Following along the lines of involvement, the students of the Mobile community gathered together to form an focus group designed to discuss how to make education benefit the students even better. From this focus group, the Student Bill of Rights was written with the goal of ensuring that students of Mobile could pursue a safe, secure and discrimination-free study environment. City officials were so impressed with the presenters of the Student Bill that they asked the five students to sit on the Mobile School Department Advisory Committee.