Preparing for careers ‘that don’t even exist’ yet.

Cullman City Schools has long been regarded as one of Alabama’s highest-ranking school systems, with a reputation for producing higher-than-average student assessment scores, top-notch facilities and notable sports teams. The district continued to build upon that reputation in 2024 with its increased focus on STEM initiatives — particularly those at early grade levels — and continued expansion of its infrastructure.

Students, parents and community members have likely gotten familiar with the continuous whirring of heavy machinery due to the ongoing construction projects at the majority of the district’s campuses. Several of those projects are set to continue and a few additional previously announced projects received the green light from the Cullman City School Board in September 2024 with the approval of an updated five-year capital improvement plan.

The most significant item included in the updated plan was the $24 million renovation of West Elementary School which, when completed, will serve all of the district’s 3-5 grade students under the new moniker of Cullman Intermediate School. Plans for the renovation show a new two-story wing with 18 new classrooms and administrative spaces as well as increased security features. The existing gym will be converted into a STEM lab. The library and cafeteria will also be expanded to accommodate the increased number of students. Construction for the project began in January and is expected to be completed before the start of the 2027-2028 school year.

The plan also included roughly $1 million in renovations and modifications to the East Elementary campus, which will be used as a PreK center after students begin attending the new intermediate school.

A second notable construction project at Cullman High School which showcased the district’s increased dedication to STEM programs is well under way. The new two-story wing will house a variety of career technical programs focused on cybersecurity, health sciences, education, computer sciences and marketing. Nearly 4,000 square feet of the building’s lower floor will be dedicated to a new modern manufacturing program administered through a recent partnership with North AlabamaWorks.

“I believe Cullman City Schools is one of the leading Alabama school systems in career technical education and STEM initiatives,” superintendent Kyle Kallhoff said during a groundbreaking ceremony for the new STEM wing. “Three years ago we created a kindergarten-through-high school STEM alignment, from exposure to exploration, for the application of STEM concepts. Today’s groundbreaking is a huge step in our alignment of these priorities.”

Other STEM initiatives and programs were implemented at various grade levels over the course of 2024.

Students from kindergarten through 8th grade were able to attend a free, two-week-long STEM camp hosted in partnership with Cullman Parks, Recreation and Sports Tourism. The camp included activities in robotics, engineering and physics and culminated with a trip to the Cook Museum of Natural Science. Attendees and other K-2 students were able to build upon their newly gained knowledge at the start of the new school year thanks to TVA grant awarded to Cullman City Primary School which partially funded a cross-curricular robotics program.

Cullman High School also hosted its first STEM day which introduced nearly 200 students to a variety of career opportunities in fields such as engineering, robotics, computer-aided drafting, nursing, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence.

“The goal is to grow this into a major event where local industry and Cullman City Schools come together for the good of our students. Our community asked for added STEM-related courses and exposure for students, and STEM is a growing phenomenon in industry,” Cullman High School engineering teacher Mike Gay said. “The students we are preparing today will be working in STEM-related careers that don’t even exist today. Getting students on board the train and offering them more opportunities in STEM will give them the advantage of being better informed and prepared to make career related decisions in the future.”

Two West Elementary students, Lauren Hughes and Kinslee Barnett, embodied the results of the district’s STEM initiatives with their recent wins in the annual Alabama Governor’s App Challenge. The challenge tasks students with designing and developing their original mobile application. Hughes took home the fourth grade district 6 title for her Presidential Brain Busters app while Barnett took home the sixth grade district 6 title for her Daily Devotions app. Both students will now go on to compete at the upcoming Alabama Computer Science Summit on April 15.

Among other things, the early emphasis on STEM programming earned CCPS principal Elizabeth Shaddix the Chiquita Marbury Award for School Administrator of the year. Shaddix was nominated by CCPS STEM teacher Anna Anderson who said,

“I was honored to nominate Mrs. Shaddix for this award because of her unwavering support and profound influence in developing our STEM program,” Anderson said in a press release. “Her dedication to empowering students and teachers through innovative methods and real-world applications truly embodies the spirit of this award. We are incredibly proud of her well-deserved recognition.”

CCPS was also recognized as one of the safest schools in the state by Attorney General Steve Marshall who presented the school with one of nine 2024 Safe Schools Initiative Awards in February 2025. Marshall highlighted the campus’s newly implemented security features such as badge entry scanners, camera systems and the staff’s thoroughness in developing a comprehensive and inclusive safety plan.

East Elementary School was one of only 356 schools in the nation to be receive National Blue Ribbon honors from the U.S. Department of Education in 2024. The last local school to receive the recognition was West Elementary School in 2009.

“I would like to credit our teachers for being intentional in utilizing every moment during the school day to move students toward proficiency; our additional support staff for making our school culture, climate, and building a safe place to work and learn; and our families and other stakeholders for contributing to the learning process and always being willing to meet any need that may arise,” East Elementary principal Melanie Harris said in a statement.

A more comprehensive breakdown of the district’s achievements were noted in its annual report card from the State of Alabama. Each school received an A rating with three campuses — East Elementary, West Elementary and Cullman City Primary — receiving their highest individual grades to date. The report also showed districtwide improvements in areas of college/career readiness and chronic absenteeism.

“We are very fortunate to have the teachers we have in our school system,” Kallhoff said in a statement. “I truly believe our state report card performance is a result of [supporting our students, continuous improvement and training for teachers and emphasizing rigourous curriculum and assessments.”