Beecher Community School District
| Beecher Community School District | |
|---|---|
| Address | |
1020 W. Coldwater Rd.
, Genesee, Michigan, 48505United States | |
| District information | |
| Type | Public school district |
| Grades | Prekindergarten-12 |
| Superintendent | Jendayi Gardner[1] |
| Schools | 3[2] |
| Budget | $14,754,000 2022-2023 expenditures[2] |
| NCES District ID | 2604500[2] |
| Students and staff | |
| Students | 551 (2024-2025)[2] |
| Teachers | 36.35 FTE (2024-2025)[2] |
| Staff | 128.82 FTE (2024-2025)[2] |
| Student–teacher ratio | 15.16 (2024-2025)[2] |
| Other information | |
| Website | www |
Beecher Community School District is a public school district in Genesee County in the U.S. state of Michigan and in the Genesee Intermediate School District. It serves the census-designated place of Beecher which is just north of Flint.[3]
History
[edit]Beecher High School was designed by the firm of Lyndon and Smith.[4] In 1938, it was included on a list of the finest school buildings in the country by the American Institute of Architects.[5]
The high school took heavy damage in the 1953 Flint-Beecher tornado, which killed 116 people in the community. The tornado destroyed the roofs of the gymnasium and auditorium, but school was not in session at the time.[6] The parking lot was used by the Salvation Army as a central disaster relief station.[7] That August, volunteers rebuilding the neighborhood used the roofless gymnasium for a dance.[8]
In 2004, because the district had a $1.8 million deficit and a decline in enrollment of 600 students over five years, the school board closed the Beecher High School building.[9] Its students were relocated to the middle school.
As of 2025, $20 million has been raised to renovate and reopen Beecher High School.[10]
Schools
[edit]Source:[11]
| School | Address | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Beecher Adult Education Center | 1020 W. Coldwater Road, Flint | Located at Ira A. Rutherford, III Building (district administration center). |
| Beecher High School | 6255 Neff Rd., Mount Morris | Serves grades 7 through 12 |
| Dailey Elementary School | 6236 Neff Rd., Mount Morris | Serves preschool through 6th grade |
| Beecher Higher Learning Academy | 1020 W. Coldwater Road, Flint | Alternative education options |
Notable events
[edit]In 1972, high school assistant principal Paul Cabell Jr. committed suicide. He was distraught over recent fighting and racial tension between the school's 350 Black and 650 white students.[12]
The district gained national attention on February 29, 2000, when six-year-old Kayla Rolland was shot and killed by a classmate at Buell Elementary School.[13] Buell Elementary was closed in 2002 and demolished in 2008.[14]
Athletics
[edit]Notable graduates
[edit]- Carl Banks, linebacker for the New York Giants, Washington Redskins, and Cleveland Browns[16]
- Lonnie Young, safety/cornerback for the St. Louis/Phoenix Cardinals, New York Jets, and San Diego Chargers
- Duane D. Hackney, the most decorated enlisted person in history of the U.S. Air Force
- Courtney Hawkins, wide receiver for Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Pittsburgh Steelers
- Roy Marble, former Iowa Hawkeyes and NBA player
- Monté Morris, point guard for the Detroit Pistons of the NBA, former standout point guard for Iowa State Cyclones, former Mr. Basketball Michigan, winner of 3 Class C MHSAA State Championships
References
[edit]- ↑ Beecher Community School District. "Staff directory". Retrieved February 25, 2025.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Search for Public School Districts – District Detail for Beecher Community School District". National Center for Education Statistics. Institute of Education Sciences.
- ↑ Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget. "Genesee County School Districts" (PDF). Retrieved February 25, 2025.
- ↑ "Architects win award". Detroit Free Press. May 7, 1940. p. 20.
- ↑ "Finest types of U.S. architecture to be pictured". The News-Palladium (Benton Harbor, Mich.). September 6, 1938. p. 5.
- ↑ "School records safe, to boys' dismay". Detroit Free Press. June 11, 1953. p. 3.
- ↑ "For tornado relief job Salvation Army wins high praise". Detroit Free Press. June 14, 1953. p. 24.
- ↑ "Mammoth work bee at Flint declared enormous success". The Petoskey Evening News. August 31, 1953. p. 1.
- ↑ Vaughn, Marion (February 12, 2004). "Beecher board defends plan to close school". The Flint Journal. p. A13.
- ↑ Livengood, Chad (February 24, 2025). "20 years after closing, a Flint-area high school is getting a second chance". The Detroit News.
- ↑ Beecher Community Schools. "Schools". Retrieved February 25, 2025.
- ↑ Smith, Vern E. (October 1972). "Race strife leads black teacher to suicide". Ebony. p. 154.
- ↑ Rosenblatt, Roger (March 13, 2000). "The Killing Of Kayla". Time. Vol. 155, no. 10. Archived from the original on February 11, 2001.
- ↑ Jessmore, Steve (November 17, 2008). "Buell Elementary to be torn down; first-grader Kayla Rolland was killed there in 2000". MLive.
- ↑ "MHSAA High". Archived from the original on May 9, 2008. Retrieved October 29, 2008.
- ↑ Woodyard, Eric (September 27, 2012). "Past Beecher experiences shape former NFL player Carl Banks into successful businessman". MLive Media Group. Retrieved August 10, 2014.