Hope of Detroit Academy MiddleHigh

Hope of Detroit Academy MiddleHigh is a public charter school in Detroit, MI, serving grades K-12 with 582 students, part of the Hope of Detroit Academy district, where nearly 87% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.

The most impressive thing about this school is its graduation rate. At 90.6% for the 2024-2025 school year, it beats the state average of 84.0% and has done so for five straight years. The dropout rate has also plummeted from 16.6% to just 4.6% in two years—far better than the state average of 7.1% and dramatically better than nearby alternatives like Infinity Institute of Learning Wayne County Juvenile Detenti (70.8% dropout) or DPSCD Virtual School (35.7% dropout). Chronic absenteeism, while still above the state average at 33.1%, is much lower than at Academy of The Americas High School (53.4%), suggesting a more stable and engaging environment.

However, there's a significant gap between getting students to graduation and preparing them academically. Test scores in ELA, Math, and Science are roughly half to a third of state averages. For example, only 13.4% of 6th graders were proficient in ELA (state: 37.5%), and just 4.17% of 10th graders were proficient in PSAT Math (state: 31.5%). SAT scores tell a similar story, with only 20.9% of 11th graders proficient in reading (state: 52.1%). There is one bright spot: 8th-grade PSAT ELA proficiency has climbed from 30.6% to 44.9% over three years, showing that literacy interventions may be working. Compared to New Paradigm College Prep just 0.3 miles away—where 68% of 3rd graders were proficient in Math—Hope of Detroit clearly has room to grow academically. The school excels at keeping kids in school and graduating them, but the next challenge is ensuring those diplomas represent true college and career readiness.