A former Wetumpka High School teacher will be changing the healthcare education system in Alabama.
Laura Bailey was recruited by Dr. Jimmy Martin to be the dean of curriculum and instruction for the new Alabama School for Healthcare Sciences in Demopolis. It’s a residential public high school campus for students pursuing healthcare careers. It is similar to residential high schools Alabama School of Math and Science in Mobile, Alabama School of Fine Arts in Birmingham and the new Alabama School of Cyber Technology and Engineering in Huntsville.
“It's going to be the first one in the nation,” Bailey said. “There are other schools that focus on health care, but none of them are residential.”
Bailey has spent the last five years serving as education administrator for Career & Technical Education Workforce Development for the Alabama State Department of Education and a director of Alabama Health Occupations Students of America. Currently a $62 million, 10-acre residential campus adjacent to Whitfield Regional Hospital in Demopolis will open in fall of 2027. The educational programs are currently being developed.
Nursing is top of the list because there are plenty of job opportunities available across the state and especially in west Alabama. Students will graduate from the school with licensures and certifications allowing them to immediately work in the healthcare environment. Many students will go on to get degrees in various healthcare fields.
Being on one campus with a hospital next door offers opportunities not to be found anywhere else in the state. The coursework is more intense for the students.
“We want them to have dual enrollment opportunities,” Bailey said. “We want them to have internships while they're on campus. We want the curriculum to be very co curricular with all of their other subjects. So if they're taking English and math and science, we want them to also embed the health sciences curriculum, you know.”
Bailey said math and science lessons would reinforce medical terminology and simulate healthcare environments.
“In math, if they're studying the measurement, they learn to draw up medications in appropriate doses,” Bailey said. “We want it all to be just a fully embedded curriculum.”
The new school is not meant to compete with healthcare classes schools currently offer through county career technical programs.
“This will be more intense, similar to the other three residential schools,” Bailey said.
Martin recruited Vestavia Hills City School System director of curriculum and instruction Dr. Antonio Cooper Jr. to be dean of students. He specializes in CTE and building dual enrollment programs and partnerships between schools and industry. Martin also recruited Marion Military Institute assistant director of enrollment management Susanna Speegle to be the admissions director.
The team is currently working on the curriculum and recruitment of staff to teach at the new school. Bailey said 100 students from across the state would be recruited to start with and as they advance, another class of 100 students would be added each year ultimately creating a school with about 400 students.
Before Bailey took the job with the Alabama Department of Education, she started her career as the family and consumer sciences teacher at Wetumpka High School. She worked under then principal Richard Dennis.
“He encouraged me to go into administration,” Bailey said. “I went and got a graduate degree in leadership and went on to be a district leader for Auburn City Schools for several years. That really propelled me to the state.”
Bailey was accepted into a doctoral program at Auburn University. When she looked more closely at the curriculum, it was similar to her master’s program. At the encouragement of her husband, she enrolled in the Birmingham School of Law and is expected to finish in December 2026.
At the moment though, Bailey is most excited about the opportunity in Demopolis at the new school.
“This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to help shape a school that will directly impact Alabama’s healthcare future,” Bailey said. “My experience as a teacher, district administrator and state leader has prepared me to design a curriculum that supports students in discovering their purpose and gaining the skills they need to thrive. I’m excited to work alongside students, educators and industry partners to empower the next generation of healthcare professionals."
