North Star Academy, a tuition free public school chartered in 1997 by Northern Michigan University, is charged with being a laboratory and a beacon for academic and artistic innovation.  The high school prepares a diverse community of aspiring scholars to be successful in their college or professional careers and to be active members of a democratic society.

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North Star Academy is a member of the Coalition of Essential Schools (CES), a growing network of over 1,200 schools and 20 regional support centers that promote higher student achievement and develops more nurturing and humane communities. 

The Coalition arose out of The Study of American High Schools led by Theodore R. Sizer. It began with 12 schools in 1984 and has grown in a grassroots fashion, as teachers and community members learned about the Coalition and sought to implement its ideals. Today, CES membership includes elementary, middle and high schools in 39 states. 97% of CES schools are public; 42% are urban; 31% are suburban; and 27% are rural.

North Star Academy selected the Coaliton of Essential Schools design because research has shown that when the changes embodied in the Coalition’s Principles are fully implemented both inside the classroom and in the school as a whole, the effects are consistent, beneficial and significant. Such schools have raised student achievement as well as parent, teacher and student satisfaction; they both have had positive effect on student behavior and promoted equity in achievement among different groups of students, regardless of race or class. A clear and strong finding across studies in CES schools is that the more fully the Principles are implemented, the more powerful the effect is*. CES is a principle-based approach to comprehensive reform, with the principles coming from educational research.

*MacMullen. M.M. (1996) Taking Stock of a School Reform Effort: A Research Collection and Analysis. Providence: The Annaberg Institute for School Reform. Brown University.