BHS Receives Accolades, College Success Award

Bloomfield Hills Schools once again has been named one of the top-rated districts in the state by Niche.com. The International Academy ranked as the number one Michigan public high school with an A+ Overall ranking and an A+ in Academics. Bloomfield Hills High School also received an A+ Overall rating and A+ Academics rating. In addition, BHHS was one of just 154 Michigan public schools that earned a GreatSchools College Success Award in 2022. 

Todd Bidlack, Assistant Superintendent for Learning Services noted, “These awards help highlight what an exceptional staff and amazing students we have in Bloomfield Hills. This tells not only a story of learning for BHS, but also a trajectory of positive learning effects even with the recent pandemic.” 

Niche rankings are a blend of data from the U.S. Department of Education and student/parent-submitted surveys, based on aggregated data/responses across each school and tempered by a statistical method to increase confidence and remove outliers. The platform also grades schools in areas like sports, diversity, and quality of school administration.

GreatSchools, the only national organization that collects and analyzes data from all 51 state departments of education and the federal government, issues College Success Awards to public high schools that stand out in helping students enroll and succeed in college. Award winners are determined by calculating a school-level score and applying a threshold to delineate which schools receive an award and which do not. This school-level score is comprised of three components:

1. College Preparation, which includes the percentage of students from a 4-year cohort who graduate from high school as well as measures of College Entrance Exam (ACT or SAT) performance.
2. College Enrollment, which includes school-level metrics that vary by state. Some states report this data as “Percent Enrolled In Any Postsecondary Institution Within 12 Months After Graduation,” while others may report with“Percent Enrolled In Any Institution Of Higher Learning In The Last 0-16 Months.”
3. College Performance, which includes remediation and persistence metrics, which also vary in availability by state. The remediation metrics capture the percentage of students needing remediation for college either for 2-year or 4-year institutions. Measures of college persistence are for the percentage of students returning for a second year at both 2-year and 4-year institutions.

Just prior to the pandemic, BHS made some significant shifts in their instruction and programming. Bidlack explained, “Our teachers forged ahead with implementation even in the face of such extreme challenges, and, even more incredibly, this work just accelerated in many areas.” BHS relies heavily on teacher-leadership models, making the decision-making processes on all levels very nimble. “This approach really paid off during the pandemic,” said Bidlak. “It allowed us to respond and adjust to the crisis unfolding in front of us while simultaneously also staying future-focused on our strategic goals.”