Flex High North Flint

Flex High North Flint is a small public charter high school in Flint, MI, serving 160 students in grades 9-12, where nearly 86% of students come from economically disadvantaged households. The school is part of the Flex High School of Michigan district, which ranks in the bottom 7% of districts statewide.

The most urgent concern for parents is the school's student retention crisis. Only 10% of students graduate within four years, compared to the state average of 84%. The dropout rate is a staggering 66.6%—meaning two out of every three students leave before earning a diploma. This is over nine times the state average (7.1%) and far worse than nearby alternative schools like Hamady Community High School, which serves a similarly disadvantaged population yet boasts a 90.6% graduation rate and just a 5.2% dropout rate. Even Academy West Alternative Education (32.5% graduation rate) and The Learning CoOp (7.1% graduation rate) show different patterns—Flex High's combination of extremely low graduation and extremely high dropout is uniquely severe.

Interestingly, Flex High reports a chronic absenteeism rate of just 7.5%, lower than the state average (27.9%). This is misleading: students who drop out are removed from enrollment rolls, so they no longer count as absent. The school also reports per-student spending of $55,108—more than three times the next highest school (Beecher High School at $35,510) and over 16 times Genesee Early College ($3,398). This figure is a massive outlier, likely reflecting a one-time expense or reporting error, since prior years showed spending between $15,000 and $16,000. While 10th-grade ELA proficiency (26.7%) is below the state average (58%), the core issue isn't test scores—it's that most students never stay long enough to be tested. Parents should weigh these retention and completion statistics heavily when considering this school.