Safest Schools: Michigan Districts Ranked

BIRMINGHAM, MI – Schools in this Detroit suburb stand above hundreds of others in Michigan, according a ranking. The school district received A+ designations for academics, teachers, health and safety, and administration. Its low mark – a B- – was for diversity.

Birmingham Public Schools topped the rankings of Michigan's safest and best schools, and ranked No. 2 on the list of districts with the best teachers, according to Niche, a website that analyzes public data and individual reviews to rank and profile schools and neighborhoods across the nation.

Troy School District ranked No. 2 and Spring Lake Public ranked No. 3 overall in the Great Lakes State. Rounding out the top fives schools in the state are Brighton Area Schools and Harbor Beach Schools.

Niche's safest school rankings are based several factors, though the most significant weight – 50 percent– is put on surveys on health and safety by students and parents. The web site also weighed student absenteeism, in- and out-of-school suspensions, law enforcement referrals, and school related arrests.

The reviews of Birmingham schools were mostly glowing for the district of nearly 8,200 students.

"The teachers really do care about their students and seeing them improve," wrote a high school senior. "They are passionate about what they are teaching you and actually make learning fun."

"The administration is amazing you can tell they care about the students they watch out in the hallways to make sure they are safe," wrote another student.

There was only one single-star review posted. It came from a high school junior, who wrote: "I have had a completely terrible experience in the Birmingham district. There is no diversity, I've been seriously bullied since I moved here, and the administration blames the victim."

The school district's low mark, a B- for diversity, is indicative of the district racial makeup: Nearly 80 percent of the students are white and 11.3 percent of the students are African-American.

The Troy schools also got high marks – mostly As and A+s across the various categories the districts are ranked on. However, Troy schools did receive an A for diversity, where 32 percent of the student population is Asian and 56.7 percent is white. The district has 12,502 students.

"An amazingly diverse district of learners with staff that truly cares for the children, community, and making a positive impact in the lives of others," wrote one parent in a review of the district.

Across the state, Spring Lake Public Schools ranked as the third safest school system in the state. Like Birmingham schools, its low mark – a C- – was for diversity. There, 93 percent of its 2,400 students are white. A mere 2.3 percent of the students are Hispanic and 1 percent are African-American.

While the top schools in the state got high marks for their academics and teachers, diversity was an issue for most of them.

The rest of the top 10 school systems in Michigan are:

4. Brighton Area Schools – C- for diversity
5. Harbor Beach Community Schools – C for diversity
6. Alpena-Montmorency-Alcona Elementary School District – C for diversity
7. Plymouth-Canton Community Schools – A- for diversity
8. Hartland Consolidated Schools – C- for diversity
9. Gull Lake Community Schools – C+ for diversity
10. Montcalm Area Intermediate School District – B- for diversity

And, at the bottom on the list, Richfield Public School Academy in Flint received the lowest rankings, including a C- for academics, a C for its administration and C- for health and safety. It received a B+ for diversity. No reviews of the district were available.

Also at the bottom of the rankings Michigan Educational Choice Center in Detroit, George Washington Carver Academy in Highland Park, Detroit Leadership Academy in Detroit, and William C. Abney Academy in Grand Rapids.

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