With a mission of preparing students for college and life, we have established our school as a consistent producer of superior results. Black River offers a small school environment with small class sizes and a challenging curriculum which fosters student engagement in their own education and enhances student responsibility and accountability.

Our elementary program is Montessori-based, fostering self-motivation, concentration and advancement at individual rates. In our middle school, students work in an interdisciplinary curriculum encompassing world culture, literature, history and geography, along with challenging math and science courses.

Black River ’s high school continues the advancement by ability and interest concept of the middle and elementary schools. Graduation requirements mirror those suggested by the University of Michigan for college-bound students.

Students have tested with 18 different Advance Placement (AP) examinations. Our students consistently exceed the national average for performance and we boast a participation rate that ranks among the top 1% of all Advance Placement participating schools in North America . Our art and music programs are an integral part of the Black River culture; graduation requirements for these programs exceed all West Michigan public schools, and participation is a remarkable 70%.

Our Project Term, unique in the area, is held during the last four weeks of school. During this time students take classes covering a wide range of subjects such as: fencing, foreign travel, robotics, money management, comparative law, computer assembly, creative writing, drama, forensic chemistry, linguistics and many other topics.