Summary:
Buchanan Community Schools is home to a single high school, Buchanan High School, which serves grades 8 through 12 and enrolls 561 students in a small-town Michigan setting.
Buchanan High School stands out as a high-performing institution, particularly given that over 40% of its students qualify for free or reduced lunch. The school consistently beats both district and state averages across nearly every subject and grade level. Its graduation rate is exceptional at 98.2%, compared to the state average of 84.0%, while its dropout rate sits at just 0.8%—nearly nine times lower than the state figure. Chronic absenteeism is also a relative strength at 13.7%, well below the state’s 27.9%. The school earned a 4-star rating and ranked #115 out of 739 Michigan high schools (84th percentile) for the 2024-2025 school year, a significant jump from the 60th percentile the prior year.
Academically, the school shows a clear pattern: literacy and science are major strengths, while math lags behind. In 11th grade, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing proficiency reaches 73.1% (state: 55.4%), and M-Step Science proficiency is 53.8% (state: 34.9%). However, SAT Math proficiency is just 32.3%, though still above the state’s 27.5%. Interestingly, 8th-grade scores show a smaller gap over state averages than 11th-grade scores, suggesting the school is especially effective at developing skills during the high school years. With a student-teacher ratio of 18:1 and per-student spending of $15,228, Buchanan High School offers a supportive environment that keeps students engaged through graduation, though math remains a targeted area for improvement.
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