Westwood Community School District (Michigan)

Last updated

Westwood Community School District
Address
3335 South Beech Daly Road [1]
Dearborn Heights
, Wayne County , Michigan , 48125
United States
District information
GradesPre-Kindergarten-12
SuperintendentDr. Stiles Simmons [2]
Schools6 [1]
Budget$27,356,000 2021-2022 expenditures [3]
NCES District ID 2611640 [3]
Students and staff
Students1,509 (2023-2024) [3]
Teachers99.97 (on an FTE basis) (2023-2024) [3]
Staff210.88 FTE (2023-2024) [3]
Student–teacher ratio15.09 (2023-2024) [3]
Other information
Website www.westwoodschools.net

Westwood Community School District is a public school district in Metro Detroit. It serves portions of Dearborn Heights, Inkster and Dearborn; [4] the sections of Dearborn within the district are zoned for industrial and commercial uses. [5]

Contents

History

Westwood Community School District was known as Dearborn Township District No. 8 until about 1969. [6] [7]

Prior to the opening of Robichaud High School, junior and senior high school students attended Roosevelt High School. [8] The district's new high school was named for Hamilton J. Robichaud, the district's superintendent at the time. [9]

Robichaud High School was completed in 1960, but the district was in a financial crisis and lacked the funds to open it. Voters had approved funds to build the school but then denied the funds needed to operate it three times. The district was on half-day sessions due to overcrowding and a lack of revenue to pay teachers. In February 1961, parts of the high school began to be used to relieve overcrowding in the district but the building was not used fully as the high school until fall 1961. [10] [11]

The district has endured challenges of racial violence. Brief closures of Robichaud High School occurred in 1967, 1968, and 1972 due to racial fighting. [12] [13] [14]

In summer 2013, the Inkster Public Schools District was entirely dissolved [15] and Westwood school district absorbed some of its boundary. [16] Students north of Michigan Avenue and east of Middlebelt were rezoned to Westwood. [17]

Voters approved a $24.5 million bond issue in 2023 to improve district facilities. [18]

Schools

Robichaud High School Robichaud high school dearborn heights michigan.JPG
Robichaud High School
Schools in Westwood Community School District [1] [3]
SchoolAddressNotes
Hamilton Robichaud High School3601 Janet, Dearborn HeightsGrades 9-12. Built 1960. [10]
Tomlinson Middle School25912 Annapolis, InksterGrades 7-8. Formerly Tomlinson Elementary School
Daly Elementary School25824 Michigan Avenue, InksterGrades PreK-6
Thorne Elementary School25251 Annapolis, Dearborn HeightsGrades PreK-6
Westwood North Academy25824 Michigan Avenue, InksterAlternative high school. Grades 9-12. Shares building with Daly Elementary and Westwood Virtual Academy, an online school.

Former schools

References

  1. 1 2 3 Westwood Community School District. "Westwood Community School District" . Retrieved December 1, 2025.
  2. ↑ Westwood Community School District. "Superintendent of Schools" . Retrieved December 1, 2025.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Search for Public School Districts – District Detail for Westwood Community School District". National Center for Education Statistics . Institute of Education Sciences.
  4. ↑ "Westwood Community Schools" (PDF). Michigan Department of Information Technology Center for Geographic Information. Retrieved May 4, 2017.
  5. ↑ "Zoning Map". City of Dearborn. Archived from the original on December 25, 2016. Retrieved May 4, 2017.
  6. ↑ "Waterford schools ordered to end half-day sessions". Detroit Free Press. September 13, 1969. p. 5A.
  7. ↑ Associated Press (January 25, 1969). "School problems? Suggests talkathon". Bay City Times (Bay City, Mich.). p. 5.
  8. ↑ "Idle five months, new high school opens its doors". Detroit Free Press. January 31, 1961. p. 3.
  9. ↑ Editorial staff of Robichaud High School yearbook. Bulldog 1961 (Robichaud High School 1961 yearbook). p. 2.
  10. 1 2 United Press International (February 1, 1961). "New school finally put to limited use". Battle Creek Enquirer (Battle Creek, Mich.). p. 30.
  11. ↑ Editorial staff of Robichaud High School yearbook. Bulldog 1962 (Robichaud High School 1962 yearbook). p. 7.
  12. ↑ Frutig, Judith (October 10, 1972). "Violence closes school". Detroit Free Press. p. 8.
  13. ↑ United Press International (January 7, 1969). "3 schools reopened". Battle Creek Enquirer (Battle Creek, Mich.). p. 12.
  14. ↑ United Press International (November 10, 1967). "Two schools stay closed". Kalamazoo Gazette. p. 8.
  15. ↑ "Dissolution of Inkster Public Schools". Wayne County RESA Board of Education. Archived from the original on November 2, 2013. Retrieved November 2, 2013– via archive.today.
  16. ↑ "Home". Inkster Public Schools. Archived from the original on November 2, 2013. Retrieved November 2, 2013– via archive.today.
  17. ↑ Smith, Brian (July 26, 2013). "Inkster schools first to be dissolved; students split across 4 districts". Mlive . Retrieved November 2, 2013..
  18. ↑ Michigan Department of Treasury. "STATE QUALIFIED SCHOOL BOND ELECTION RESULTS WAYNE COUNTY Westwood Community Schools" . Retrieved December 1, 2025.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.