Birch Run Area Schools

Birch Run Area Schools is a mid-sized Michigan district serving roughly 1,800 students in grades PK-12 across four schools: North Elementary School, Marshall Greene Middle School, Birch Run High School, and Birch Run Progressive High School.

The district's standout is Birch Run High School, which excels in science (53.7% proficiency, well above the state's 35.2%) and social studies, and boasts a strong 87% graduation rate with a remarkably low 1.5% dropout rate. In contrast, Birch Run Progressive High School, the small alternative program, struggles significantly with a 64.2% graduation rate, 67.4% chronic absenteeism, and a very high student-teacher ratio of 50.6:1, while receiving less than half the per-student funding of the traditional high school. Marshall Greene Middle School is the district's rising star, improving its ranking by 15 percentile points over two years, with 7th grade ELA and several math scores now exceeding state averages. North Elementary School is the area of concern, with declining rankings and ELA proficiency that trails state averages by as much as 8 points in 4th grade.

Chronic absenteeism is a hidden crisis that escalates with grade level, from a low 11.1% at North Elementary to 28.7% at Marshall Greene and 26.6% at Birch Run High. Math is a persistent weakness district-wide, with a striking 30-point gap between SAT math and reading proficiency at the high school. The district also shows spending inefficiencies, allocating the most per student ($15,232) to Birch Run High while the higher-need alternative school receives just $7,588. Despite these challenges, the positive momentum at Marshall Greene and the high school's strong science program offer encouraging signs for families looking at this district.