High Schools in Birch Run Area Schools

The Birch Run Area Schools district in Michigan serves two high schools—Birch Run High School and Birch Run Progressive High School—covering grades 9 through 12 with a combined enrollment of 576 students.

Birch Run High School is the district’s flagship comprehensive school, enrolling 538 students. It currently ranks 265th out of 800 Michigan high schools (67th percentile, 3 stars), a strong recovery from last year’s 417th-place finish. The school shines in science, with 53.7% proficiency on the 11th-grade M-Step—18.5 points above the state average—and also exceeds state averages in social studies. Its graduation rate is 87.0%, above the state’s 84.0%, and its dropout rate is just 1.5% versus the state’s 7.1%. However, math remains a persistent weakness: only 21.8% of students are proficient on SAT Math, below the state’s 27.5%. Chronic absenteeism sits at 26.6%, slightly below the state average. By contrast, Birch Run Progressive High School is a small alternative program with just 38 students, serving a higher-need population (63.2% economically disadvantaged). Its graduation rate is 64.2%, and chronic absenteeism is a severe 67.4%. The school spends only $7,588 per student—less than half of Birch Run High’s $15,232—and has a strikingly high 50.6:1 student-teacher ratio, raising questions about resource adequacy for such a challenging population.

For parents, the key takeaway is that Birch Run High School offers a solid, improving education with exceptional science instruction and strong student retention, though math support is clearly needed. The school’s ranking volatility (from 152nd to 417th to 265th over three years) suggests sensitivity to cohort changes, but the latest data points to effective interventions. Meanwhile, Birch Run Progressive High School serves a vital role for at-risk students, keeping its dropout rate at the state average despite extreme absenteeism—but its low spending and high student-teacher ratio warrant scrutiny. The district overall ranks 229th out of 625 Michigan districts (63rd percentile), masking wide internal disparities between the two schools.