Birmingham Covington School, Bloomfield Hills MI

Original Research by School Decision on Birmingham Covington School

Birmingham Covington School is a third-through-eighth-grade public school in the Birmingham Public Schools district, located in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. It sits in one of Oakland County's most affluent communities, a quiet, almost exclusively residential suburb of Detroit known for large wooded estates, winding roads, and an absence of commercial corridors. The city has no traditional downtown, no walkable retail strip, and no public transit. Civic and cultural life centers on institutional campuses, most prominently the Cranbrook Educational Community, a National Historic Landmark with a science museum, art academy, gardens, and private schools. Several corporate headquarters sit within city limits, but many residents commute to Detroit for executive roles with automakers and Fortune companies. The city's official posture is explicitly anti-growth, and the area is essentially built out, so families looking here are buying into an established, low-density environment rather than a changing one.

The school itself serves a modest enrollment for its grade band, with roughly equal class sizes across each of the six grades. The student body is predominantly white, with small representations of Asian, Black, Hispanic, multiracial, and other students. Economic disadvantage is rare here, with only a sliver of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. Data on English learners and students with individualized education programs was not available, so those populations could not be characterized. The school is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet, though it operates within a district that serves a community with substantial private-school alternatives, including Cranbrook Schools and Roeper School.

Academically, Birmingham Covington is a strong performer. State assessment results from the most recent year show proficiency rates well above typical state levels across math, English language arts, science, and social studies. In math, proficiency climbs steadily from the younger grades into the middle grades, with seventh-grade math reaching an exceptionally high level. Eighth-grade math, measured through the PSAT, remains strong. English language arts follows a similar arc, with fifth-grade ELA particularly high and eighth-grade ELA reported in a range that approaches near-universal proficiency. Science and social studies results are solid across both tested grades. When measured against other districts in Oakland County, the school's overall proficiency places it in the top quartile, a reflection of both the instruction and the advantaged student population it serves.

There is no graduation rate to report because the school does not extend into high school. Students presumably transition to Birmingham Public Schools high schools after eighth grade, though the data provided does not specify which one. There were no chronic absenteeism figures, discipline data, course-access details, or staffing information available, so those dimensions of school climate could not be assessed. Program offerings were also not provided, leaving a gap in understanding what specialized electives, enrichment, or extracurriculars the school may offer beyond the core curriculum. A parent interested in those specifics would want to ask the school directly.

The housing market around the school reflects the community's character. The typical home value in the school's zip code sits well above both state and national benchmarks, making this one of the more expensive areas in the region. Oakland County as a whole has seen active listing counts and new listings rise modestly year over year, with a median listing price in the county that is lower than the school's immediate area but still above the national figure. Homes move at a moderate pace, with median days on market in the mid-thirties. Mortgage rates hover in the mid-six-percent range, and affordability metrics suggest that buying here requires a substantial income relative to most of the country. Rental data was not available for the immediate zip code, though county-level rent-to-income ratios suggest renting is somewhat more manageable than buying but still sits above the national comfort threshold.

For families considering this school, the picture is clear. Birmingham Covington offers a high-achieving academic environment in a small, stable, affluent community where privacy and low density are the norm. The trade-offs are an expensive housing market, a car-dependent lifestyle with no walkable amenities, and limited public data on some aspects of school climate and programming. Parents who want to understand the full student-support picture or available enrichment options should reach out to the school, as those details were not available in the data reviewed.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 371%

School 71% · District 71%

▲ 29 pts above state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

Grade 477%

School 77% · District 74% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▲ 39 pts above state median · ▲ 24 pts above county median

Grade 577%

School 77% · District 62% · ▲ 15 pts above district

▲ 45 pts above state median · ▲ 32 pts above county median

Grade 689%

School 89% · District 68% · ▲ 20 pts above district

▲ 61 pts above state median · ▲ 47 pts above county median

Grade 792%

School 92% · District 72% · ▲ 20 pts above district

▲ 64 pts above state median · ▲ 53 pts above county median

Grade 880%

School 80% · District 64% · ▲ 15 pts above district

▲ 52 pts above state median · ▲ 40 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 359%

School 59% · District 67% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▲ 21 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

Grade 475%

School 75% · District 75% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 34 pts above state median · ▲ 21 pts above county median

Grade 587%

School 87% · District 73% · ▲ 14 pts above district

▲ 45 pts above state median · ▲ 31 pts above county median

Grade 682%

School 82% · District 68% · ▲ 15 pts above district

▲ 48 pts above state median · ▲ 39 pts above county median

Grade 780%

School 80% · District 72% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▲ 46 pts above state median · ▲ 33 pts above county median

Science

Grade 576%

School 76% · District 67% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▲ 36 pts above state median · ▲ 24 pts above county median

Grade 878%

School 78% · District 67% · ▲ 11 pts above district

▲ 41 pts above state median · ▲ 25 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 563%

School 63% · District 55% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▲ 35 pts above state median · ▲ 25 pts above county median

Grade 882%

School 82% · District 75% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 39 pts above state median · ▲ 24 pts above county median

This schoolBirmingham Public Schools, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

Mathematics

Grade 8Lower-income46%Higher-income84%38 pp gap