i3 Academy, a free public charter school in Birmingham: K-5 campus at 230 49th St. N., grades 6-9 at 7901 1st Ave. N.; 2024-25 state grade C, 73 points.

Last checked Oct. 17, 2026. Sources: i3 Academy’s website, Who We Are page, message from the head of schools and enrollment information page; the Alabama State Department of Education’s state report card for 2024-25; and the federal NCES school directory for 2024-25.

i3 Academy is a public charter school in Birmingham: free, open to any Alabama student and run by its own governing board instead of Birmingham City Schools. The name stands for three words, imagine, investigate and innovate, and the school says it serves kindergarten through ninth grade on three campuses. Alabama graded i3 Academy as a whole a C, with 73 points, on its 2024-25 report card. It has no attendance zone; families apply.

Who to call

Campus Address Grades (2024-25 state card)
i3 Academy elementary (Phase 1) 230 49th St. N., Birmingham, AL 35212 K to 5
i3 Academy middle (Phase 2) 7901 1st Ave. N., Birmingham, AL 35206 6 to 9

The elementary school is in the Woodlawn community, the middle school is in East Lake on the campus of St. Barnabas Catholic Church, which is not affiliated with the school, and the high school is on the campus of Jefferson State Community College, where students can take dual credit and professional certification courses, according to the school’s Who We Are page.

Leadership

Head of Schools Tamala R. Maddox, according to the school’s message from the head of schools, which lists science, technology, engineering and math, project-based learning and social-emotional learning among its emphases.

How admission works

The rules below are from the school’s enrollment information page:

  • Who can apply: any student of the right age or grade who lives in Alabama.
  • Lottery: when there are more applicants than seats, a random PowerSchool lottery decides. The school says no administrator, teacher, employee or board member can influence it.
  • Priority A: students enrolled the previous year and siblings of current students.
  • Priority B: children of governing board members and i3 employees, up to 10% of enrollment.
  • Priority C: students who live in the Woodlawn community, which the school defines as the city neighborhoods of East Avondale, Oak Ridge Park, South Woodlawn and Woodlawn.
  • Documents: birth certificate, immunization record and proof of Alabama residency, such as an Alabama Power bill, lease or tax notice.

Deadline: the 2027-28 new student application, for kindergarten through 10th grade, opened Oct. 1 and closes at 11:59 p.m. Monday, Jan. 18, 2027, the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, according to the school’s Who We Are page.

Enrollment and teachers

Campus State count, 2024-25 card Federal count, 2024-25 Teachers (FTE)
Elementary (Phase 1) 398 411 25
Middle (Phase 2) 390 400 17
i3 Academy total 788 811 42

Federal figures are from the NCES directory for the 2024-25 school year; the state counts are from the 2024-25 Alabama report card. That works out to about 16 students per teacher at the elementary campus and 24 at the middle campus.

State report card

Alabama grades every public school, charter schools included, from A to F each year. The grade comes from a 100-point score built from students’ achievement and growth on state tests in English language arts and math, chronic absenteeism (the share of students who missed 18 or more days), progress in English language proficiency and, for high schools, graduation rate and college and career readiness, according to the Alabama State Department of Education’s report card rules. Alabama does not use CCRPI, the Georgia score.

Elementary (Phase 1) Middle (Phase 2) i3 Academy overall
2024-25 grade C, 77 points C, 78 points C, 73 points
2023-24 grade C, 79 points C, 78 points C, 73 points
Academic achievement 54.59 49.86 51.88
Academic growth 93.47 100 97.86
Chronic absenteeism (lower is better) 12.06% 14.35% 13.21%

The full report cards are on the state’s report card site: elementary, middle and overall. Birmingham City Schools, for comparison, earned a C with 77 points.

Attendance zone

None. i3 Academy is a school of choice, so Birmingham City Schools’ zones do not apply. A student who lives in the Woodlawn community gets lottery priority, as above. For the district school an address is zoned for, use Birmingham City Schools’ Find My Zone.

Calendar and sports

i3 Academy sets its own instructional calendar, separate from the Birmingham City Schools calendar. The school lists wellness and athletics, fine arts, a makerspace and foreign language among its enrichment classes. On the Alabama High School Athletic Association’s 2026-28 enrollment list, i3 Academy High School is in Class 2A with an enrollment figure of 197.10, according to the AHSAA’s 2026-28 alignment page.

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Frequently asked questions

What grades does i3 Academy serve?

The school says it serves kindergarten through ninth grade on three campuses: an elementary school in Woodlawn, a middle school in East Lake and a high school at Jefferson State Community College. Its 2027-28 application is for kindergarten through 10th grade.

How do you get into i3 Academy?

Any Alabama resident can apply online through PowerSchool. When there are more applicants than seats, a random PowerSchool lottery decides, with priority for returning students and siblings, children of board members and employees, and families in the Woodlawn community.

When is the i3 Academy application deadline?

The 2027-28 new student application opened Oct. 1 and closes at 11:59 p.m. Jan. 18, 2027, according to the school’s website.

What is i3 Academy’s state report card grade?

i3 Academy as a whole earned a C, with 73 points, on Alabama’s 2024-25 state report card. The elementary campus scored 77 and the middle campus 78, both C grades.