District Profile

The School District is one of 28 school districts located in Oakland County, Michigan, one of the wealthiest counties in the United States. The Southfield and Lathrup Village communities are a blend of suburban and urban landscapes - wooded subdivisions with large ranch-style homes, working-class subdivisions with smaller homes on small lots, strip malls, high-rise apartments, and towering business complexes. The business environment of the City of Southfield is strong with over 100 Fortune 500 companies represented (several of which maintain worldwide headquarters in Southfield), and during the day the population of Southfield swells from a residential population of 73,100 to a workforce population in excess of 175,000.

2023-24 Student Enrollment:

K-5th grade: 2,083
6-8th grade: 1,110
9-12th grade: 1,479

Total: 4,662

2023-24 Graduation Rates:

University K-12 Academy: 100%
Southfield High School for the Arts and Technology: 93%

FY24 District Expenditures 

Southfield Public Schools offers a robust college-prep curriculum, integrated with exceptional programs to help cultivate each student's unique abilities.

• A comprehensive high school, Southfield High School for the Arts & Technology, with career-focused academies that help prepare students for specific industries.
• An examination high school, University High School Academy, which offers a small private school setting and requires all students to take honors and AP classes.
• A nationally accredited early childhood Head Start Program.
• Advanced Placement preparation programs and enrichment activities starting in elementary school. 
• International Baccalaureate Programme starting in kindergarten through 12th grade.
• A bilingual magnet school where students speak 31 languages from 31 countries around the world.
• Saturday school enrichment and academics classes covering mathematics, foreign languages, electives and more.
• A dual enrollment program that allows students to earn high school and college credits for courses taken at University of Michigan-Dearborn, Wayne State University and Oakland Community College, with all costs covered by the district.
• Spanish, art, music and physical education classes in the elementary schools.
• Support services in speech pathology, social work and psychology.
• Full high school athletics and music programs.

Southfield recognizes the importance of teacher preparedness. The district encourages teachers to earn advanced degrees and provides a myriad of opportunities for staff development. Collectively, the SPS teaching staff is enrolled in thousands of hours of professional development each year, with 91 percent holding a masters degree or higher.

All of Southfield's school facilities are modern and up-to-date, meeting all current fire, safety and handicap standards. A modern instructional and administrative technology system is in place. During the 2015-16 school year, the District purchased projectors, document cameras, smart boards, audio enhancement, and Chromebooks as tools to incorporate technology into the curriculum. One to one Chromebooks were launched during the 2016-17 school year for 9th-grade students. Additional new Chromebooks with carts were purchased to replace aging laptops, thus providing students and staff with leading-edge technology. These continuing purchases created a 1 to 4 ratio of devices to students. 

Our award-winning curriculum is comprehensive and designed to thoroughly prepare students for the rigors of college and professional pursuits. It is tied to the Michigan Core Standards Curriculum and the Southfield Vision Statement, Mission Statement and Profile of a Graduate.

During the 2016-17 school year, the Division of Instruction continued a facilitated, systemic professional development initiative with differentiated instruction.  Differentiated instruction is “responsive” teaching that takes into account individual needs of students rather than offering a standardized approach to teaching and learning. Teachers are proactive in their planning of a variety of approaches to what students need to learn, how they will learn it, and how they will express what they have learned.  

In 2008, Southfield Public Schools became the sixth school district in Michigan to receive district accreditation from the AdvancED/North Central Assn. of Colleges & Schools. All regular K-12 schools in the Southfield School District are fully accredited by NCA. The Bussey Center is accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children. This means that our schools meet nationally recognized standards for quality.

The district has received the ASBO Certificate of Excellence in Financial Reporting for 37 consecutive years.  View 2017 Certificate

2022-23 Annual Incident Report