West Hills Middle School, West Bloomfield MI

Original Research by School Decision on West Hills Middle School

West Hills Middle School was a regular public middle school in the Bloomfield Hills Schools district, located on Lone Pine Road in West Bloomfield. It is now closed. The building itself was repurposed as part of a district-wide facilities reconfiguration that took effect in fall 2023, when Lone Pine Elementary School moved into the former West Hills Middle School building. So while this school no longer operates as a middle school, its last available state assessment results, from the final year before closure, offer a picture of what the academic program looked like.

The school served grades four through eight, based on the tested grade levels in its state assessment record. On Michigan's M-STEP and PSAT assessments, West Hills showed real strength in English language arts. Proficiency was solid across the upper elementary grades and rose to a notably high level by eighth grade, where the large majority of students met or exceeded proficiency on the PSAT. Math proficiency was moderate, with a slight dip in the middle grades before ticking back up. Science results were in a similar moderate range. Social studies was the softest area, with a smaller share of students reaching proficiency in both the tested grades, and this is a spot a parent looking at historical performance might want to probe further with the district, since the school itself is no longer operating.

Enrollment and demographic data were not available in the records provided. No information on total enrollment, free or reduced-price lunch rates, racial or ethnic composition, special education rates, or English learner populations was reported. Civil rights data, staffing figures, attendance patterns, and course access information were also absent. Program offerings were not provided. These gaps mean there is no way to characterize the peer environment or student support infrastructure from the available data. The school was not a charter or magnet school.

The surrounding community is West Bloomfield, a charter township in Oakland County and a mature northwestern suburb of Detroit. Publicly reported sources describe it as a residential community organized around numerous small and medium-sized lakes, sometimes called the lake township of Oakland County. Cass Lake, the largest in the county, is partly within the township, and Pine Lake lies entirely within it. The built environment is car-dependent suburban, with commercial life concentrated along Orchard Lake Road and West Maple Road in strip malls and shopping complexes rather than a walkable downtown. There is no traditional pedestrian-oriented main street.

Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital is the township's largest employer and a major institutional anchor. Civic and cultural anchors include the West Bloomfield Township Public Library, the township parks system, a nature preserve and wildlife sanctuary, the Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit, and the Chaldean Cultural Center, which is the largest of its kind in the United States. The township has the largest Jewish population in Michigan and a substantial Chaldo-Assyrian community. West Bloomfield is served by seven school districts, more than any other municipality in Oakland County, with Bloomfield Hills Schools being one of them.

The local housing market reflects an affluent suburban setting. Home values in the school's zip code sit well above both the state and national benchmarks. Oakland County's broader market has seen a modest increase in active listings recently, with homes spending roughly a month on the market. The price-to-income ratio in the area is elevated, pointing to a relatively expensive housing environment even by national standards.

For a parent or resident reading this today, the key fact is that West Hills Middle School no longer exists as a functioning school. Bloomfield Hills Schools restructured its middle school program, and the building now houses an elementary school. The academic results from the school's final year suggest it was a reasonably strong performer in English language arts, moderate in math and science, and weaker in social studies. Anyone wanting to understand what the current middle school experience looks like in this district would need to look at the reconfigured North Hills and South Hills Middle Schools, which replaced the old middle school model.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 466%

School 66% · District 67% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 27 pts above state median

Grade 563%

School 63% · District 62% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 31 pts above state median

Grade 651%

School 51% · District 74% · ▼ 23 pts below district

▲ 22 pts above state median

Grade 755%

School 55% · District 66% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▲ 26 pts above state median

Grade 854%

School 54% · District 70% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▲ 26 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 461%

School 61% · District 71% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▲ 20 pts above state median

Grade 566%

School 66% · District 72% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▲ 24 pts above state median

Grade 655%

School 55% · District 71% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▲ 21 pts above state median

Grade 761%

School 61% · District 70% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▲ 27 pts above state median

Grade 883%

School 83% · District 89% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▲ 20 pts above state median

Science

Grade 555%

School 55% · District 66% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▲ 15 pts above state median

Grade 854%

School 54% · District 68% · ▼ 14 pts below district

▲ 16 pts above state median

Social studies

Grade 527%

School 27% · District 48% · ▼ 21 pts below district

▼ 2 pts below state median

Grade 839%

School 39% · District 75% · ▼ 35 pts below district

▼ 3 pts below state median

This schoolBloomfield Hills 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

English language arts

Grade 5Lower-income46%Higher-income70%24 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income21%Higher-income69%48 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income36%Higher-income90%55 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 5Lower-income33%Higher-income68%35 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income20%Higher-income56%36 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income21%Higher-income61%40 pp gap