Berrien Springs Public Schools

Berrien Springs Public Schools
Address
285 Sylvester Ave. [1] Berrien Springs , Berrien County , Michigan , 49103 United States
District information
Motto	Together, inspiring students to think, learn, achieve and care in a global community. [1]
Grades	Pre-Kindergarten-12
Superintendent	Dr. Thomas Bruce [2]
Schools	9 [3]
Budget	$71,354,000 2021-2022 expenditures [3]
NCES District ID	2605430 [3]
Students and staff
Students	4,730 (2023-2024) [3]
Teachers	155.29 FTE (2023-2024) [3]
Staff	470.97 FTE (2023-2024) [3]
Student–teacher ratio	30.46 [3]
Other information
Website	www.homeoftheshamrocks.org

Berrien Springs Public Schools is a public school district in Berrien County, Michigan. It serves Berrien Springs and parts of Berrien Township, Oronoko Township, and Royalton Township. ^[4]

History

Berrien Springs High School opened in late 1960 with a capacity of 600 students. The designer was Mauer & Mauer architects of South Bend, Indiana. ^[5] The high school enrollment during the 2023-2024 school year was 551 students. ^[3]

The predecessor to the current high school was built in 1928 as an addition to a school built in 1908. It was demolished in 1976, and the site became part of Old Courthouse Square. ^[6] Ultimately, the Berrien Springs Public Library was built on the site. ^{[7] [8]}

Berrien Springs Public Schools grew from 1,525 students in the 2000-2001 school year ^[9] to 4,730 students during the 2023-2024 school year. ^[3] During the 2023-2024 school year, more than half of the district's total number of students were enrolled in its largest school, Link Learning Virtual Program. ^[3] This online high school is one of three ^[3] online schools administered by the district (counting the West Michigan Virtual Middle/High Schools as one school) that are open to all Michigan residents. Additionally, the district serves as an educational services provider for Vicksburg Public Schools' Success Virtual Learning Centers of Michigan. ^[10] Berrien Springs Virtual Academy online school serves students who are homeschooled. ^[11] It is a unique program for a public school district. ^[12]

As of the 2023-2024 school year, 63.4 percent of Berrien Springs students are enrolled in online schools. ^[3]

Schools

Berrien Springs Schools ^{[13] [3]}

School	Address	Notes
Berrien Springs High School	201 Sylvester Ave., Berrien Springs	Grades 9-12. Built 1960. [5]
Berrien Springs Middle School	502 Middle School Dr., Berrien Springs	Grades 6-8
Sylvester Elementary	101 Sylvester Ave , Berrien Springs, MI	Grades 2-5
Mars Elementary	430 W. Mars St. , Berrien Springs	Grades PreK-2
Discovery Academy	242 Sylvester Ave., Berrien Springs	Alternative online high school, partially in-person on the Berrien Springs Public Schools campus. Grades 9-12.
Virtual Academy	501 Middle School Dr./P.O. Box 130, Berrien Springs	Online school. Grades K-12.
Link Learning	9057 Belding Rd. Ste 4, Belding, MI	Online school open to all Michigan students in grades 9-12 and administered by Berrien Springs Public Schools. [14]
Success Virtual Learning Centers of Michigan	7188 Avenue B, Vestaburg, MI	Online school open to all Michigan students in grades 9-12. Administered by Vestaburg Community Schools. [10] Berrien Springs Public Schools is an educational services provider for this school, but its students are not considered as belonging to Berrien Springs by the National Clearinghouse for Educational Statistics.
West Michigan Virtual	35 Hamblin Ave. W, Battle Creek, MI	Online school open to all Michigan students in grades 6-12 and administered by Berrien Springs Public Schools. [15]

References

1. Berrien Springs Public Schools. "Berrien Springs Public Schools" . Retrieved May 13, 2025.
2. Berrien Springs Public Schools. "Staff Directory" . Retrieved May 13, 2025.
3. "Search for Public School Districts – District Detail for Berrien Springs Public Schools". National Center for Education Statistics . Institute of Education Sciences.
4. Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget. "Berrien County School Districts" (PDF). Retrieved May 13, 2025.
5. "New Berrien Springs High School". The Herald-Press (St. Joseph, Mich.). November 21, 1960. p. 8.
6. "Landmark comes down". The Daily Star (Niles, Mich.). June 15, 1976. p. 6.
7. Editorial staff of Berrien Springs High School yearbook. 1955 Canoe (Berrien Springs High School Yearbook. p. 2.
8. "Google Maps Berrien Springs Community Library, Berrien Springs, MI" (Map). Google Maps . Retrieved May 13, 2025.
9. Ballotpedia. "Berrien Springs Public Schools" . Retrieved May 13, 2025.
10. Success Virtual Learning. "Success Virtual Learning" . Retrieved May 14, 2025.
11. Berrien Springs Public Schools. "Berrien Springs Virtual Academy" . Retrieved May 13, 2025.
12. Schwartz, Katrina (July 30, 2015). "Busting Stereotypes: A Homeschool-Public School Partnership That Works". WQED.
13. Berrien Springs Public Schools. "Schools" . Retrieved May 14, 2025.
14. Link Learning. "Link Learning" . Retrieved May 14, 2025.
15. West Michigan Virtual Academy. "West Michigan Virtual Academy" . Retrieved May 14, 2025.