Read more about how explosive growth and contraction shaped the Birmingham schools during the last 75 years.

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By 1916, Birmingham had grown from a pioneer settlement to a modern suburban community, drawing more and more families. District No. 1, Fractional of the Townships of Bloomfield, Troy, Royal Oak and Southfield (including the Village of Birmingham) had served well during the rural past of the adjacent communities. But now, Birmingham's student population was bursting at the seams. To make room for the children squeezing into classrooms at Hill and Barnum schools, the district school board asked taxpayers to authorize a bond issue to build a new high school and auditorium. To convince voters to support the additional taxes needed to pay for the new high school, which was to be located at the corner of Maple and Chester in Birmingham, District Superintendent Clarence Vliet wrote a pamphlet promoting his vision for Birmingham’s high school of the future.

The result was Baldwin High School, completed in 1918 and built on property purchased with proceeds from the estate of Martha Baldwin, a former Birmingham teacher, principal, and philanthropist. (Read more about Martha Baldwin's importance to Birmingham's schools here.) Baldwin High, also called (Birmingham High) served as a high school until 1952, when the modern Birmingham (Seaholm) High was built. It then was an elementary school until 1972, when the building was demolished. The school’s original cornerstone can still be seen at the southeast corner of Southfield and Maple. 

Over the next fifteen years, Superintendent Vliet advocated for one bond issue after another to build the schools needed in Birmingham to keep up with the influx of new students. He also expanded the curriculum to include science, art, and music and strengthened the athletic program. Like Martha Baldwin, Vliet had a vision to create the finest public education possible for Birmingham's students.  Unlike Martha, Clarence Vliet had the position and resources to see the vision realized. Many believe Vliet set the foundation for the tradition of high quality education Birmingham Public Schools are still known for today, but it must be said that he built on Baldwin's success in showing what could be done. 

By the 1920s, classrooms began to overflow. World War I had ended and demand for homes in the suburbs surged once again. As the population increased, the district built even more schools to keep up, going to the voters each time to ask them to approve bond issues. And each time they did. Three elementary schools were built in the 1920s: Adams, Pierce and Quarton. All have similar architectural details representative of the period, including brick exteriors, banks of tall windows and limestone trim.

 

Baby Boomers start kindergarten
Veterans returning from WWII got married, started a family and bought a home thanks to help from the G.I. Bill. Vacant land in the suburbs filled in quickly and family size grew. Between 1940 and 1960, the number of families with three children doubled and the number with four children quadrupled. And that meant the district needed more schools. Thanks to district voters’ strong support of operating millage campaigns and bond issues, seventeen new schools were built between 1950 and 1968.

Though development slowed during the Great Depression, by the 1940s the suburbs were bustling and the school district expanded once more. The State of Michigan pressured smaller school districts to consolidate. The Birmingham district offered to absorb the smaller surrounding districts, and portions of the Southfield, Bloomfield and Troy districts agreed to annexation. This consolidation is evident today in the irregular shape of the Birmingham district.

The annexed districts brought three new elementary schools into the Birmingham Public Schools fold in 1945: Franklin, Bloomfield Village and Walnut Lake. All three schools were closed in the 1980s and 1990s and now are used as private schools.

Elementary schools proliferate

Birmingham's first high school was named for Martha Baldwin, but it was also referred to at the time as Birmingham High. Seems logical, but that was just the start of the confusion from a schools history point of view! When a new high school was being built in 1952, the Birmingham High name transferred to that school. So when a student graduated from Birmingham High School, they had to clarify which one. The situation got worse when another new high school was soon needed, and while under construction, Birmingham High School was officially renamed Ernest W. Seaholm High, while the newest got the name Wylie E. Groves. Both high schools currently serve 9th-12th grade students.

Groves made quite the splash when it was built. While Seaholm, built in 1952 (above, left) resembled the other recent elementary and junior high schools in utilitarian design, Groves’ architecture incorporated what are now iconic elements of the mid-century modern style (above, right). Such features are evident in the glassed-in courtyards and the rippled roofline that make the building an architectural standout. 

Enrollment peaked in the 1967-68 school year with more than 18,000 students and 900 teachers filling classrooms to the brim. However as school 

enrollment began to decrease over time, Birmingham Public Schools faced the prospect of consolidation and reorganization – a trend that would continue until the 1990s when enrollment finally stabilized at around 8,000 students.  

Since early in Birmingham’s history, the community has shown a resolute commitment to rigorous education for all students, thanks to the groundwork laid by leaders like Martha Baldwin and Clarence Vliet. The consistent support of voters for millage and bond issues from 1916 through today has made it possible for the schools to grow to meet the needs of students in the district. As a result of that commitment and support, Birmingham Public Schools are ranked among the highest-performing districts in the state today.