WAY Watervliet High School

WAY Watervliet High School is a small alternative high school in Watervliet, MI, serving about 90 students in grades 9-12 within the Watervliet School District.

This school is designed for students who haven't thrived in a traditional high school setting, and its numbers reflect that challenging mission. The graduation rate is 24.3%, far below the state average of 84%, and the dropout rate is 37.8%—the highest in the region. For context, Watervliet Senior High School, located at the same address, boasts a 98.6% graduation rate. The student-teacher ratio is also an outlier at 45:1, compared to under 20:1 at every other nearby school, suggesting a model that leans heavily on online or self-paced learning with limited direct teacher contact. Per-student spending is the lowest among comparable schools at $9,412, which raises questions about whether the program provides enough support for students who likely need more help, not less.

Despite these tough statistics, there are some encouraging signs. The school's state ranking has jumped from the 15th percentile to the 47th percentile in just two years. More notably, the ranking for students from low-income families has soared from the 22nd to the 66th percentile, indicating the school is becoming more effective at helping its most at-risk students succeed academically. In fact, 9th graders scored 58.8% proficient in English Language Arts, and science proficiency (21.4%) is on par with the district's main high school. Chronic absenteeism has also dropped dramatically from 88.7% in 2018-2019 to around 13% recently, suggesting that students who stay enrolled are showing up. The core challenge isn't attendance—it's keeping students from dropping out entirely. For parents considering this option, it's important to understand that WAY Watervliet serves a very specific purpose as a credit-recovery or alternative program, and its success should be measured by the progress of individual students rather than traditional metrics.