West Bloomfield School District

School district in Michigan

West Bloomfield School District

Address

5810 Commerce Rd.

West Bloomfield Township, Michigan

West Bloomfield

, Oakland, Michigan, 48324
District information
Type| Public
Motto| Educating Students to be their best IN and FOR the world
Grades| PK – 12[1]
Established| 1949
Superintendent| Dr. Dania Bazzi
Schools| 10 schools, 1 high, 1 middle, 4 elementary
NCES District ID| 2635820 [1]
Students and staff
Students| 4,830[1]
Teachers| 307.72 FTE[1]
Staff| 381.09 FTE[1]
Student–teacher ratio| 15.7[1]
Other information
Website| www.wbsd.org

The West Bloomfield School District is a public school district in Metro Detroit in the U.S. state of Michigan, serving portions of West Bloomfield and Sylvan Lake, all of Keego Harbor, and most of Orchard Lake Village.[2]

## History

[edit]

Settled in the early days of the 19th century, the district was originally a farming community. Late in the 19th and early in the 20th century, it became a popular lake resort area, accessible from Detroit by interurban railway. In the natural course of suburbanization, it became a highly desirable suburban bedroom community and today is a well developed and maintained area of single family homes and some up-scale condominiums and apartments.

As a sprawling 19th Century farming community, there were several small school districts that operated one-room schoolhouses. By 1926, the Scotch district had a brick school building, as well as the Keego Harbor District. Voters in the Green, Hosner, Keego Harbor and Scotch districts chose to merge districts on May 31, 1949, forming the present-day district.[3]

## Schools

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List of Schools  School | Grades | Built | Notes

|
|
|

West Bloomfield Preschool Academy | Pre-K | 1926 | Housed in the former Scotch Elementary
Doherty Elementary | K–5 | 1969 |
Gretchko Elementary | K–5 | 1995 |
Scotch Elementary | K–5 | 1989 |
Sheiko Elementary | K–5 | 1957 | Formerly known as Green Elementary. To be rebuilt as part of 2023 bond issue.[4]
West Bloomfield Middle School | 6–8 | 2022 |
West Bloomfield High School | 9–12 | 1971 |
Exterior of West Bloomfield High School

## Former schools

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### Ealy Elementary

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Built in 1966 at 5475 West Maple Road, Ealy closed in summer 1983 due to declining enrollment.[5] It reopened in 1986 but closed in summer 2013.[6] The building has been demolished.

### Orchard Lake Middle School

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Built as a junior high school in 1965, OLMS became the high school between 1967 and 1971. It then became one of the district's middle schools until combining with Abbott Middle School in 2022 within a new building on the same site. It has been demolished.

### Abbott Middle School

[edit]

This building, at 3380 Orchard Lake Road, was built to be the district's high school in 1955.[7] The architect was George D. Mason & Co.[8] It became a junior high school in 1967, then closed in spring 1971. In fall 1972 it reopened as Abbott Middle School. It then housed Roosevelt Elementary when the middle schools were combined.[9] Roosevelt Elementary closed at the end of the 2023–24 school year and the district intends to use the building for administration.[10]

### Roosevelt Elementary

[edit]

The building at 2065 Cass Lake Road in Keego Harbor was built in 1920 by the Keego Harbor school district, which was annexed into WBSD in 1949. Fisher Brothers architecture firm was the original designers, with Robert O. Derrick designing the 1928 extensions.[11] Prior to 1955 it was a K-12 school.[12] The building, considered the state's oldest operating school[13] closed in the summer of 2022 due to a ceiling collapse in an unused classroom.[14] The district felt it safer to move the students to the vacant Abbott Middle School for the following school year. The school is slated for demolition.[15]

### Keego Harbor School

[edit]

Built at the corner of Orchard Lake Road and Pridham St in 1914, Keego Harbor school had four classrooms, indoor toilets, and a stone foundation. By World War II it was no longer used as a school, but was used by the district for dances and recreation. It was demolished in 1963.[16]

## Administration

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### Board of education

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The board is responsible for carrying out mandatory laws as expressed in the Michigan Constitution and Michigan Statutes, Federal Laws and Regulations relating to schools and school districts. The three main responsibilities of the board are:

1. Hiring the superintendent
2. Adopting policies
3. Adopting the budget

### West Bloomfield School District Superintendents[17]

[edit]

* Warren W. Abbott (1949-1952)
* Dr. Leif A. Hougen (1952-1968)
* Dr. Anthony Witham (1968-1973)
* Dr. Jerry J. Herman (1973-1982)
* Dr. Seymour Gretchko (1982-2002)
* Dr. Gary Faber (2002-2008)
* Dr. JoAnne Andrees (2008-2012)
* Dr. Gerald D. Hill (2012–2022)
* Dr. Dania Bazzi (2022–Present)[18]

## Athletics

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West Bloomfield Schools are a voluntary member of the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA). West Bloomfield High School is a member of the Oakland Activities Association which comprises 24 Oakland County schools. It is divided into three or four divisions in order to develop equitable competition. Realignment takes place annually to ensure that the goals and criteria are met.

## References

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1. ^ a b c d e f "Search for Public School Districts – District Detail for West Bloomfield School District". National Center for Education Statistics. Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved January 28, 2025.
2. ^ "Maps: School Districts: West Bloomfield School District" (PDF). Michigan Department of Technology, Management & Budget. Retrieved July 15, 2024.
3. ^ Greater West Bloomfield Historical Society (2016). "West Bloomfield School District: Our School History" (PDF). Retrieved January 28, 2025.
4. ^ West Bloomfield School District. "2023 Bond". Retrieved January 28, 2025.
5. ^ "Ealy school will close". Detroit Free Press. April 7, 1983. p. Oakland section C1.
6. ^ Hubred-Golden, Joni (May 29, 2013). "Ealy Elementary teacher packs up 20 years of memories". Patch (West Bloomfield, Mich.).
7. ^ Greater West Bloomfield Historical Society (2016). "West Bloomfield School District: Our School History" (PDF). Retrieved January 28, 2025.
8. ^ Greater West Bloomfield Historical Society. "1954 West Bloomfield High School Dedication Plaque". Retrieved January 28, 2025.
9. ^ Greater West Bloomfield Historical Society. "Newspaper Photo for Dedication of West Bloomfield High School 1955". Retrieved January 28, 2025.
10. ^ West Bloomfield School District. "General Strategic Visioning Information". Retrieved January 28, 2025.
11. ^ Greater West Bloomfield Historical Society. "Roosevelt Historical Plaque Board of Education". Retrieved January 28, 2025.
12. ^ Greater West Bloomfield Historical Society. "Newspaper Photo for Dedication of West Bloomfield High School 1955". Retrieved January 28, 2025.
13. ^ West Bloomfield School District. "Roosevelt Elementary: About Us". Retrieved January 28, 2025.
14. ^ Vest, Mark (June 29, 2022). "Ceiling collapses in unused classroom at Roosevelt Elementary school". West Bloomfield Beacon.
15. ^ Vest, Mark (September 28, 2023). "WB school board recommends demolishing Roosevelt Elem". West Bloomfield Beacon.
16. ^ Greater West Bloomfield Historical Society. "Called By the Peal of the Bell: Section 8: The Keego Harbor School" (PDF). Retrieved January 28, 2025.
17. ^ Greater West Bloomfield Historical Society (2016). "West Bloomfield School District: Our School History" (PDF). Retrieved January 28, 2025.
18. ^ Thompson, Carol (April 4, 2022). "West Bloomfield School District names new superintendent".

## External links

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* Michigan portal
* Schools portal

* West Bloomfield School District

* v
* t
* e

West Bloomfield Township, Michigan

Education

Primary and secondary schools|

* West Bloomfield SD
* West Bloomfield HS
* Birmingham CSD
* Bloomfield Hills SD
* Farmington PS
* SD of Pontiac
* Walled Lake CS
* Waterford SD
* Frankel Jewish Academy

Other education|

* Oakland Community College
* Michigan Jewish Institute

Other

Transportation|

* SMART

This list is incomplete.
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