KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – Kalamazoo Public Schools superintendent Darrin Slade is pretty pumped up about the district’s latest graduation rates, which have just been reported by the state Department of Education.
He says over the past four years, they have reached a new high in every student demographic, in all the high schools.
It’s a new high for Kalamazoo and achieves a long-term strategic goal for the district, but realistically it just brings Kalamazoo up to the state average.
Last year, Kalamazoo Central was nearly 4% higher than the state average at 87.77% and Loy Norrix was just a hair under the state number at 83.91%.
Board chair Ti’Anna Harrison congratulated Dr. Slade and his staff and students for the achievement.
The state figure of 84.01% was also a record high in 2025, but the improvements statewide since the pandemic have not been as dramatic as Kalamazoo’s numbers.
It’s another sign that Michigan students continue to recover from the damage that the COVID-19 pandemic caused to test scores and graduation rates.
The overall 4-year graduation rate for 2024-2025 was 77.35%, up 11.5% from the 2022-2023 rate of 65.85%.
Graduation rates in Michigan schools are often shown in average rates over four-year periods to provide a clearer indication of student performance and retention over time, rather than one-year increments, which may be subject to statistical fluctuations caused by demographics, economic disruptions, and events like pandemics, snowy winters and other natural disasters.
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