** International Academy of Flint Ranks Among Top High Schools in State **

Date: Tuesday, April 11, 2017
Contact: Ms. Amy Wesley
Email: awesley@sabis.net

The Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a Michigan-based, free-market think-tank, recently ranked the International Academy of Flint (IAF) in Flint, Michigan, among the top 10 percent of 639 high schools. The ranking was part of “The 2016 Michigan Public High School Context and Performance Report Card,” which was just released by the center.

The Mackinac Center for Public Policy has issued a biennial Michigan Public High School Context and Performance Report Card since 2012. However, unlike other ranking systems that are based solely on schools’ academic performance, the Mackinac ranking formula includes measures of student socio-economic background and demographics as well as academic performance. In the 2016 report, school rankings were determined using a 4-year average of performance on state examinations such as the Michigan Merit Examination (MME) or the M-Step, average composite scores on the ACT college admissions test, and a predictive rate of performance based on the percent of students receiving free or reduced lunch. The resulting score assigned to each school is called a “Context and Performance,” or CAP, score.

IAF, a public charter school where 78 percent of students qualify for free or reduced lunch, ranked 41^st out of 639 high schools in the Mackinac study. This ranking in the top 10 percent also earned the school an A grade. Among charter schools ranked in the report, IAF placed 11^th out of the 66 charters schools. Michigan’s public charter schools fared well in general in the report, representing 33 percent of the states’ top 20 schools.

“We are extremely proud to be the only non-selective high school in Flint to achieve an A grade,” said Dr. Reginald Kirkland, IAF School Director. “But most importantly, this means our students are striving to reach their full potential despite their circumstances outside of the classroom.”

IAF is a member of the SABIS^® Network of schools, which has an active presence in 20 countries on five continents. Since IAF was founded in 1999, the school has provided students with a top-quality education and regularly received recognition for its students’ performance on external exams. IAF has a 100% college-acceptance rate since graduating its first class in 2004, and the Class of 2016 earned over $700,000 in college scholarships. For more information about IAF, visit iaf.sabis.net.

For the full Mackinac Center for Public Policy study, click here.