Pershing High School

Pershing High School is a public high school in Detroit, MI, serving 415 students in grades 9-12 as part of the Detroit Public Schools Community District.

Pershing is facing an acute crisis, with academic performance ranking in the 2nd percentile statewide for 2025-2026—a sharp drop from the previous year. Proficiency rates are in the single digits across all subjects: only 5.3% of 11th graders are proficient in Science, 7.7% in Social Studies, 7.6% in SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing, and 5.1% in SAT Math. These scores are roughly a quarter to a third of those seen at nearby schools like Hazel Park High School and Hamtramck High School. The most striking issue, however, is chronic absenteeism: 84% of Pershing students were chronically absent in 2024-2025, nearly double the rate at Hazel Park (49.9%) and Hamtramck (47.3%), and triple the state average. This level of disengagement is a fundamental barrier to learning and directly correlates with the low test scores.

Despite these challenges, there is one positive trend: the graduation rate has improved significantly, rising from 61.8% in 2021-2022 to 78.4% in 2024-2025, though it still trails the state average of 84%. The school also spends a substantial $22,805 per student—more than most nearby schools—yet this funding is not translating into academic gains. A comparison with Oakland International Academy 912, located just 2.67 miles away, is telling: that school serves a similarly high-poverty population (88.4% free/reduced lunch) but has only a 19% chronic absenteeism rate and test scores 2-5 times higher than Pershing's. This shows that high poverty does not have to dictate low performance. The rapid year-over-year decline in Pershing's metrics suggests a recent, acute crisis rather than a long-term stable state, pointing to school climate and student engagement as the most critical levers for change.