The K–12 schools in 35401 include eight Tuscaloosa City Schools (TCS) campuses, one private school (The Capitol School) and one public charter school (I Dream Big Charter School on the Stillman College campus). No Tuscaloosa County School System (TCSS) campus has a 35401 street address, even though the county system’s central office does. This directory lists each school by its published physical address, names the district or operator, and points out the closed and renamed schools that still turn up on older lists.
A school’s address tells you where the building is. It does not tell you which children are zoned to attend it. That distinction matters in 35401 more than most places, because several programs here draw students from across the city.
Which districts operate schools in 35401?
Tuscaloosa City Schools and the Tuscaloosa County School System are two separate public districts with separate boards, superintendents and attendance zones. In the 35401 ZIP code, every traditional public school campus belongs to Tuscaloosa City Schools. The county system has no school buildings here, but both districts run their central offices from this ZIP: TCS at 1210 Almon Avenue and TCSS at 1118 Greensboro Avenue.
Two schools sit outside both districts. The Capitol School is an independent private school, and I Dream Big Charter School is a public charter school authorized by the Alabama Public Charter School Commission rather than by either local board.
Public schools in 35401: Tuscaloosa City Schools directory
The table below lists the eight TCS sites whose published addresses use 35401. Addresses were matched across the district directory, each school’s own website and the federal NCES school directory.
| School | Type / grades | District | Address | Website |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central Elementary School | Elementary, PK–5 | Tuscaloosa City Schools | 1510 Dinah Washington Avenue, Tuscaloosa 35401 | Website |
| Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School | Elementary, PK–5 | Tuscaloosa City Schools | 2430 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Tuscaloosa 35401 | Website |
| Oakdale Elementary School | Elementary, PK–5 | Tuscaloosa City Schools | 5001 25th Street, Tuscaloosa 35401 | Website |
| University Place Elementary School | Elementary, PK–5 | Tuscaloosa City Schools | 2000 1st Avenue, Tuscaloosa 35401 | Website |
| Westlawn Middle School | Middle, 6–8 | Tuscaloosa City Schools | 1715 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Tuscaloosa 35401 | Website |
| Central High School | High school, 9–12 (includes IB Programme) | Tuscaloosa City Schools | 905 15th Street, Tuscaloosa 35401 | Website |
| Tuscaloosa Career and Technology Academy (TCTA) | Career and technical center; see school website | Tuscaloosa City Schools | 2800 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Tuscaloosa 35401 | Website |
| TCS Children’s Center & STARS Academy at New Heights | Specialty / non-traditional program site; STARS Academy K–12 | Tuscaloosa City Schools | 3834 21st Street, Tuscaloosa 35401 | Website |
Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary, Westlawn Middle and TCTA all use Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard addresses (2430, 1715 and 2800), so search with the full street number.
The Central High feeder pattern
TCS publishes feeder patterns that show which schools generally lead into which. For Central High School, the district lists Westlawn Middle as the middle school and Central, Martin Luther King Jr., Oakdale and University Place as the elementary feeders. All six of those schools happen to have 35401 addresses. A feeder pattern is not a promise about any particular house.
Specialty programs housed in 35401
Several sites in this ZIP serve students from beyond the surrounding neighborhood.
International Baccalaureate at Central High School
Central High hosts the TCS International Baccalaureate (IB) Programme for grades 9–12. The district lists it on its specialty schools page as an application program. It is a program inside Central High, not a separate school. Students at Tuscaloosa Magnet Schools–Middle, which is in 35404, submit an intent form each spring to continue into the IB Programme at Central. Admission criteria can change, so check the TCS specialty schools page before relying on any detail.
Tuscaloosa Career and Technology Academy
TCTA is a shared-time career and technical center. Its website says students travel from TCS high schools to take classes there, so it is not a stand-alone zoned school with its own neighborhood. The Tuscaloosa County School System’s career and technical education page also mentions a partnership with TCTA. Neither site describes an application process, so ask a high school counselor how enrollment works.
TCS Children’s Center and STARS Academy at New Heights
The district lists this site under “Specialty Schools and Non-Traditional Programs.” The pages checked do not describe how students are placed or what services the Children’s Center provides, so this guide does not label it further. The building at 3834 21st Street is the former Stillman Heights Elementary School, which closed in 2006. Local reporting describes the property’s redevelopment as the New Heights Community Resource Center.
Private and charter schools in the 35401 ZIP code
| School | Type / grades | Operator | Address | Website |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Capitol School | Private, nursery/preschool through 12 (NPK–12) | The Capitol School (independent) | 2828 Gary Fitts Street, Tuscaloosa 35401 | Website |
| I Dream Big Charter School | Public charter; grades 6–9 listed for enrollment | Nonprofit governing board; authorized by the Alabama Public Charter School Commission | 3601 Stillman Blvd, Tuscaloosa 35401 | Website |
The Capitol School was founded in 1993 and, according to its history page, takes its name from nearby Capitol Park. Some older listings show its address as 2828 6th Street. The school’s own site uses 2828 Gary Fitts Street, and that is the address used here. Admissions are handled by the school.
I Dream Big Charter School (its site footer also uses the name I Dream Big Academy Charter School) is a public school, but it is not part of TCS or TCSS. Its contact page gives 3601 Stillman Blvd, the same street address as Stillman College, because the school is located on Stillman’s campus; Stillman is a partner, not the operator. The school opened in fall 2025, and its own building on the campus had a ribbon cutting in February 2026. In May 2026 the commission approved an amendment to include 8th grade and add 9th grade. Enrollment is by application through the school, not by home address.
Closed and renamed schools on older directories
Old school lists and map apps still show campuses that no longer operate. If you see one of these names attached to a 35401 address, treat the listing as out of date.
- Northington Elementary School closed at the end of the 2017–18 school year under a TCS facilities plan. Its students were reassigned to Arcadia Elementary or University Place Elementary.
- Stillman Heights Elementary School closed in 2006. Its building now houses STARS Academy.
- Druid High School and Tuscaloosa High School merged in 1979 to form Central High School. Druid High was a historically Black high school; both names now belong to local history, not current enrollment.
Colleges with 35401 street addresses
Higher education is a large part of this ZIP. Stillman College’s campus is at 3601 Stillman Blvd, and Shelton State Community College’s C.A. Fredd Campus is at 3401 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Many University of Alabama buildings publish 35401 street addresses for visitors, while UA’s institutional mail uses its own ZIP. The guide to the University of Alabama’s 35487 ZIP code explains that split, and the Tuscaloosa college campus ZIP code directory covers each campus in more detail.
Checking zoning for an address in 35401
A 35401 mailing address does not by itself place a home in Tuscaloosa City Schools, because ZIP codes and district lines are drawn independently. For the city system, enter the address in the TCS zoning map (it opens an ArcGIS address lookup); for the county system, use the TCSS Infofinder. Confirm the result with the district. The guide to Tuscaloosa and Northport school zones explains why ZIP codes are not enough, and the article on mailing addresses versus city limits covers the related city-boundary question.
Frequently asked questions
Are there any Tuscaloosa County schools in 35401?
No county-system school campus uses a 35401 address. The TCSS central office at 1118 Greensboro Avenue is in this ZIP, and its online Legends Virtual Academy lists that office in its page footer, but neither is a school campus.
For neighborhoods, streets and services in this ZIP, see the 35401 ZIP code guide; for historic sites near these schools, see the landmarks in 35401.
Facts in this guide were checked against the sources below on October 10, 2026. Addresses, programs and boundaries can change; confirm with the official source before relying on them.
Sources
- Tuscaloosa City Schools — Our Schools (accessed October 10, 2026)
- Tuscaloosa City Schools — Feeder patterns (accessed October 10, 2026)
- Tuscaloosa City Schools — Specialty schools (accessed October 10, 2026)
- Tuscaloosa City Schools — Zoning map (accessed October 10, 2026)
- Tuscaloosa Career and Technology Academy — School website (accessed October 10, 2026)
- TCS — STARS Academy at New Heights (accessed October 10, 2026)
- Tuscaloosa County School System — Career and Technical Education (accessed October 10, 2026)
- Tuscaloosa County School System — Student Services and Infofinder (accessed October 10, 2026)
- NCES Common Core of Data — Tuscaloosa City school list (accessed October 10, 2026)
- The Capitol School — History (accessed October 10, 2026)
- I Dream Big Charter School — Contact (accessed October 10, 2026)
- WBRC — I Dream Big Academy opens first building on Stillman College campus (accessed October 10, 2026)
- Tuscaloosa Thread — Tuscaloosa charter school news (accessed October 10, 2026)
- WBRC — Final year for longtime Tuscaloosa elementary school (accessed October 10, 2026)
- Tuscaloosa Thread — Stillman Heights to transform (accessed October 10, 2026)
- Wikipedia — Tuscaloosa City Schools (historical context) (accessed October 10, 2026)
- Shelton State Community College — History (accessed October 10, 2026)
- The University of Alabama Registrar — Locations (accessed October 10, 2026)
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