Summary:
Bangor High School is the sole high school in the Bangor Public Schools (Van Buren) district, serving grades 9 through 12 in the small, rural community of Bangor, Michigan, with a total enrollment of 264 students.
For parents, the most important takeaway is that Bangor High School shows a clear split in academic strengths. The school performs relatively well in English Language Arts, Science, and Social Studies—in fact, it beat the state average in Science (39.3% vs. 34.9%) and Social Studies (51.8% vs. 42.1%) in the 2024-2025 school year. However, Mathematics is a significant weakness, with proficiency rates far below state averages across all grade levels (e.g., only 12.5% of 11th graders were proficient on the SAT vs. 27.5% statewide). This suggests that while the school has instructional strengths in several subjects, math intervention is urgently needed. The school also has a high chronic absenteeism rate of 41.5% (state: 27.9%) and a dropout rate of 11.1% (state: 7.1%), even though its graduation rate of 83.3% is close to the state's 84.0%. This points to a bifurcated student body—some students are thriving, while a substantial portion is disengaged.
Financially, the school spends a substantial $18,877 per student, well above national averages, yet this high investment has not translated into strong math outcomes, indicating a need for targeted strategies rather than just more funding. The school's state ranking has also declined over three years, from the 54th percentile (2023-2024) to the 40th percentile (2025-2026), with a notable drop in 11th-grade Science proficiency from 39.3% to 20.8% in just one year. One unusual data point is the large discrepancy between the school's graduation rate (83.3%) and the district's reported rate (44.0%), which may stem from different calculation methods or student mobility. Overall, parents should expect a school with solid non-math academics but significant challenges in math, attendance, and student retention.
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