High Schools in Kentwood Public Schools

The Kentwood Public Schools district in Michigan is home to two high schools: East Kentwood High School and Crossroads Alternative High School. While East Kentwood High School serves a diverse student population of over 2,000 and maintains a strong 89.7% four-year graduation rate, Crossroads Alternative High School faces significant challenges, with a smaller enrollment of 242 students, a much lower 36.7% graduation rate, and academic performance well below district and state averages.

East Kentwood High School's student body is racially diverse, with 27.41% White, 32.34% African American, 18.16% Hispanic, and 13.63% Asian students. In contrast, Crossroads Alternative High School has a higher percentage of minority students, with 40.5% African American and 22.73% Hispanic. This demographic difference may be a contributing factor to the stark performance gap observed between the two schools, with Crossroads Alternative struggling to achieve proficiency rates on state assessments, particularly in social studies at just 10.8%.

Chronic absenteeism is a significant issue at Crossroads Alternative High School, with a rate of 64.2% compared to 36.0% at East Kentwood High School. This, combined with the school's high 28.3% dropout rate, suggests that Crossroads Alternative faces substantial challenges in supporting and retaining its student population. Despite the performance gaps, the per-student spending at Crossroads Alternative ($16,838) is slightly higher than at East Kentwood High School ($16,410), indicating that factors beyond just funding may be contributing to the differences in academic outcomes between the two schools.