Beecher Community School District is a public school district in Genesee County in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

and in the

Genesee Intermediate School District Genesee Intermediate School District is an Intermediate school district in Michigan serving the school districts that primarily lies within Genesee County. Schools Direct schools *Elmer A. Knopf Learning Center *Genesee Career Institute *Genes ...

. It serves the

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

Beecher Beecher may refer to:__NOTOC__ People *Beecher (surname) Places United States *Beecher, Illinois * Beecher, Michigan, a census-designated place and unincorporated community near Flint * Beecher, Wisconsin, a town * Beecher (community), Wisconsin, ...

which is just north of

Flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Historically, flint was widely used to make stone tools and start ...

History

Beecher High School was designed by the firm of Lyndon and Smith. In 1938, it was included on a list of the finest school buildings in the country by the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C. AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach progr ...

. The high school took heavy damage in the 1953 Flint-Beecher tornado, which killed 116 people in the community. The tornado destroyed the roofs of the gymnasium and auditorium, but school was not in session at the time. The parking lot was used by the

Salvation Army The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestantism, Protestant Christian church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. It is aligned with the Wesleyan-Holiness movement. The organisation reports a worldwide m ...

as a central disaster relief station. That August, volunteers rebuilding the neighborhood used the roofless gymnasium for a dance. In 2004, because the district had a $1.8 million deficit and a decline in enrollment of 600 students over five years, the school board closed the Beecher High School building. Its students were relocated to the middle school. As of 2025, $20 million has been raised to renovate and reopen Beecher High School.

Schools

Source:

Notable events

In 1972, high school assistant principal Paul Cabell Jr. committed suicide. He was distraught over recent fighting and racial tension between the school's 350 Black and 650 white students. The district gained national attention on February 29, 2000, when six-year-old Kayla Rolland was shot and killed by a classmate at Buell Elementary School. Buell Elementary was closed in 2002 and demolished in 2008.

Athletics

Beecher's mascot is the Beecher

Buccaneer Buccaneers were a kind of privateer or free sailors, and pirates particular to the Caribbean Sea during the 17th and 18th centuries. First established on northern Hispaniola as early as 1625, their heyday was from the Restoration in 1660 u ...

.MHSAA High
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Notable graduates

Carl Banks Carl E. Banks (born August 29, 1962) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He played from 1984 to 1995 for the New York Giants, Washington Redskins and Cleveland Browns. H ...

, linebacker for the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

, and

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

* Lonnie Young, safety/cornerback for the St. Louis/Phoenix Cardinals,

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

, and

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

Duane D. Hackney Duane D. Hackney (June 5, 1947 – September 3, 1993) was a United States Air Force pararescueman. He was the most decorated enlisted man in USAF history and the recipient of 28 decorations for valor in combat and more than 70 awards and dec ...

, the most decorated enlisted person in history of the

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its origins to 1 ...

* Courtney Hawkins, wide receiver for

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

, and

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

Roy Marble Roy Lane Marble Jr. (December 13, 1966 – September 11, 2015) was an American professional basketball player, 6'6" tall, who played as a swingman. After playing four seasons at the University of Iowa from 1985 to 1989, Marble left the college ...

, former

Iowa Hawkeyes The Iowa Hawkeyes are the athletic teams that represent the University of Iowa, located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. The Hawkeyes have varsity teams in 20 sports, 7 for men and 13 for women; The teams participate in Division I of the Nati ...

and NBA player *

Monté Morris Monté Robert Morris ( ; born June 27, 1995) is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Iowa State Cyclones. Early life Morris was born ...

, point guard for the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

of the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

, former standout point guard for

Iowa State Cyclones The Iowa State Cyclones are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Iowa State University, located in Ames. The university is a member of the Big 12 Conference and competes in NCAA Division I, fielding 16 varsity teams (6 men's and 1 ...

, former Mr. Basketball Michigan, winner of 3 Class C MHSAA State Championships

References

External links

* School districts in Michigan Education in Genesee County, Michigan {{Michigan-stub