Original Research by School Decision on Hazel Park High School
Hazel Park High School is a regular public high school serving grades nine through twelve in the Hazel Park School District, located in Oakland County, Michigan. The school sits on Hughes Avenue in a compact, primarily residential inner-ring suburb of Detroit, roughly ten miles north of downtown. Hazel Park is a dense, small city of single-family homes on tree-lined streets, with commercial activity and civic functions clustered along Nine Mile Road, where city hall, the public library, the police station, and the post office share a single block. Interstates run through and alongside the city, making car travel the dominant mode of getting around.
The student body is modest in size for a four-year high school, with enrollment distributed fairly evenly across the four grades. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the working-class character of the surrounding community. The racial and ethnic composition is roughly split between Black and White students, with a small Hispanic population and a scattering of students identifying as multiracial, Asian, or American Indian. Information on students with individualized education programs and English learners was not available in the data we reviewed, so those population shares remain unclear.
Academically, this is where the picture gets thin. State assessment results were not available in the data provided, and no multi-year trend information was present. A four-year graduation rate was likewise missing, as was a chronic absenteeism figure. When we positioned the school relative to districts in Oakland County, the county-level comparison set, every metric came back without a reported value for this school. This means we cannot characterize how Hazel Park High School performs on proficiency, graduation, or attendance compared with its county peers. A parent looking at this school would want to ask the administration directly for current state testing results, graduation and dropout rates, and attendance data, since none of those appeared in the available sources.
Program offerings were also not included in the data, so we cannot describe Advanced Placement options, career and technical education pathways, dual enrollment, or extracurricular activities. The school's website, district communications, or a direct conversation with the counseling office would be the way to learn what academic and enrichment pathways are available to students.
One publicly reported community feature stands out. The Hazel Park Promise Zone guarantees all resident graduates of Hazel Park Schools a tuition-free path to an associate's degree, often through pre-existing scholarships. This is a concrete postsecondary support that families in the district can factor into their planning, and it gives the high school a direct link to community college access for students who complete graduation requirements.
The housing market around the school is affordable relative to both Oakland County and the state as a whole. Home values in the school's zip code sit well below the statewide benchmark and far below the national one, and the county-level market shows a high supply score with moderating listing prices. Rents are moderate. The former Hazel Park Raceway site, now being redeveloped into warehouse space for an Amazon distribution center, is adding a commercial and industrial element to what has been a predominantly residential community. The city's population has seen a slight decline in recent estimates. Schools in the district have been described as recently renovated.
We looked for recent parent-relevant changes at the district level and found little of lasting impact in available sources, so we left that area out rather than speculate. In short, Hazel Park High School is a small, diverse, predominantly working-class suburban high school with a tuition promise attached to graduation, but the available data does not let us speak to its academic results, program depth, or student outcomes. Families considering this school should go directly to the district for those specifics.
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