Summary:
Zip code 48121, encompassing the Dearborn, MI area, is served by a single public charter high school, Henry Ford Academy, which operates as its own single-school district, the Henry Ford Academy district, and serves grades 9 through 12 with a total enrollment of 476 students.
For parents considering this area, Henry Ford Academy presents a mixed profile. The school’s greatest strength is its graduation rate of 91.7%, which is notably higher than the state average of 84.0%, and its dropout rate of 5.1% is lower than the state’s 7.1%. However, academic proficiency on standardized tests lags behind state averages across nearly all subjects. The most significant concern is mathematics, where only about 1 in 5 students meet proficiency standards on the SAT and PSAT, compared to roughly 1 in 3 students statewide. In 11th-grade reading and writing, the school’s 49.5% proficiency is close to the state’s 52.1%, but science (24% vs. 35.2%) and social studies (36% vs. 43.2%) show wider gaps. The school’s state ranking has been stable, hovering between the 36th and 40th percentile over the past three years, indicating consistent but below-median performance.
Two factors stand out as potential drivers of these outcomes. First, chronic absenteeism is alarmingly high at 39.4%, well above the state average of 27.9%, which likely undermines academic progress. Second, despite spending a substantial $15,031 per student and maintaining a favorable 10.6:1 student-teacher ratio, academic results remain below par, raising questions about how resources are being utilized. With 58.19% of students qualifying for free or reduced lunch, the school serves a high-poverty population, yet it still manages to graduate students at a high rate. Parents should weigh the school’s strong completion metrics against its academic challenges, particularly in math, and consider whether the supportive environment outweighs the lower test scores.
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