Julian’s family“He grabs a book, and he reads to me the entire way home.”
A school where childhood is unhurried, free, and full.
For 21 years, Red Mountain has been quietly doing school differently in Birmingham.
Book a Tour
Samplings held throughout the year · K4–12
Meet Red Mountain — a film with the Head of School & our families
We exchange textbooks for living books, workbooks for copybooks, and short-term results for long-term learning. Real books. Nature study. Fridays spent out in the world.
A liberal education for all
In their own words
Hear from our families
Three families, three reasons they chose Red Mountain.
Mika & Mila’s family“It has rhythms rather than races.”
Lawrence’s family“You may pull up and find your child outside in the water.”
A living feast
What makes Red Mountain different
Real books, not textbooks
Children read whole, living books — the kind you’d want to read yourself.
Fridays out in the world
Every week we leave the building — farms, creeks, theaters, the woods of Alabama.
Nature notebooks
Watercolor studies of mushrooms, leaves, and small creatures, kept by hand.
Morning gathering
Each day begins together — songs, hymns, and a story before the work begins.
Lunch together, as one school
K4 through twelfth grade, at the same table, every day.
Small, human-scale classes
About 70 students in all. Every child is known by name.
Up to $7,000 per student
More accessible than you might think.
Alabama’s CHOOSE Act provides up to $7,000 per student toward tuition, and many Red Mountain families qualify. We are happy to walk you through it on a tour.
Book a tour
Come see it for yourself.
We hold samplings throughout the year — a tour and a brief introduction to how we do school. Book one, and we would love to show you and your family around.
Now enrolling for 2026/27 · Samplings begin at 8:45 AM