Rockford Public Schools Academics

Our Focus:  Ensuring that every student is part of a supportive school community and is given opportunities to find their place and flourish.

• A school district on the rise, Rockford Public Schools' student achievement trend has been increasing steadily and opportunities for academic and career-based experiences lead the region.
• All of our 14 schools are recognized as State of Michigan Blue Ribbon Schools.
• In 2023, all schools in our district earned A's for state testing proficiency and growth.
• Our Student Achievement Results placed Rockford Public Schools in the top three of all districts in Kent County.
• Rockford Public Schools is recognized in the region as a leader in literacy, with a focus on instructional framework and practices.
• College Board recognizes our district as an Advanced Placement district. 
• Our district leads Kent County in opportunities for students to earn college credit.
• College graduate rate = 80%

Academic experiences that ensure personalized learning, rigorous instruction, and readiness for future opportunities.

Purpose: The primary purpose of Rockford Public Schools is to provide high-quality educational opportunities to ensure every student’s readiness for the future. Academic excellence provides students with the necessary skills and knowledge to reach their potential.

Reason: Academic excellence is pursuing intentional and comprehensive education that promotes critical thinking, creativity, and opportunities. It encompasses a dynamic blend of curriculum, instruction, and assessment tailored to meet the diverse needs of all learners. In practice, classrooms are buzzing with engaged students, staff facilitating inquiry-based learning, and a supportive community valuing intellectual curiosity and lifelong learning. Our strategic initiatives aim to cultivate an environment where students can achieve their highest potential and thrive as confident, capable individuals prepared for success.

MI School Data provides access to Rockford Public Schools student achievement data. Directions for navigating the data dashboard are communicated below. 

1. Input "Rockford Public Schools" into the "Search for a School" box.

  2. Click on a school.

  3. Follow the steps below for each report, then use the pull down menus to choose and display specific subjects and student groups.

       1. Student Assessment:

           From the left margin, click "Student Data" and then "Performance".

       2. School Accountability:

           From the left margin, click "School Index" to view Student proficiency and growth on state assessments graduation rates attendance rates.

Identification of Comprehensive Support and Improvement, Targeted Support and Improvement or Additional Targeted Improvement, if applicable.  

Collaborative Culture at Rockford Public Schools

At Rockford Public Schools, productive collaboration is a foundational value and behavior in leading to educational excellence. Our district subscribes to the practices aligned with the Professional Learning Communities Model and believes in a culture where staff members work together to create an environment that supports growth and achievement for every student. Ensuring high levels of learning for every student is our consistent North Star.  

In our schools, collaboration is a shared responsibility for success.   All teachers contribute to their grade level or content area collaborative team aligning their work to the Four PLC Questions:

• What do we want all students to know and be able to do?

• How will we know if they learn it?

• How will we respond when some students do not learn?

• How will we extend the learning for students who are already proficient?

Teachers engage in regular data-driven discussions, sharing best practices and strategies to respond to student learning needs and boost overall student achievement. Together, we celebrate achievements, overcome challenges, and continuously innovate to provide the best educational opportunities for our students.

In addition to collaborative teacher teams at every building, Rockford Public Schools also promotes a collaborative culture by structuring district and building leadership teams that include members from representative positions.  Our district instructional leadership team is called our Academic Excellence Team.   This team includes teacher leaders from every building, content area and grade level.  Including instructional directors, building principals and instructional coaches, this team’s role is to understand student achievement trends in their assigned area and collaboratively learn about and implement strategies to improve learning.

Additionally, every RPS school building has a leadership team called the Building Guiding Coalition. This team includes representative staff members and has the responsibility of understanding and supporting the Professional Learning Communities aligned work to collaborative teams in their building.

RPS Professional Learning Calendar

Early College Opportunities Brochure 

• STEAM 
• Outdoor Learning
• AP Seminar
• Multi-Tiered Systems of Support
• Spanish Immersion
• Counseling Dogs
• Academically Advanced Programming