The Dearborn Public Schools is a school district that includes the entire city of Dearborn, Michigan and a small portion of Dearborn Heights, both in Greater Detroit. Dearborn Public Schools is the third largest school district in Michigan, serving 20,000 students. The district had a $233 million budget for 2021. Operations In the fall of 2021, the district moved start times later for all students. The district runs a three-tier busing system meaning a single bus may pick up and deliver high school, middle school and then elementary school students. Demographics After decades of slow growth, Dearborn Public Schools has seen its enrollment stabilize in recent years. Enrollment was just over 20,000 students for the 2020-21 school year. About 46 percent of the district’s students are considered English Language Learners. The community includes a large Arab American population, and Arabic is the most common second language in the district after English. From 2000 to 2010, during a time of growth in the Arab American community, the enrollment of DPS increased from 17,000 to 18,500. This occurred even though the number of households in Dearborn declined during the same period. In a thirty-year period ending sometime prior to 2010 the district and Detroit Public Schools both developed policies to accommodate Arab and Muslim students in collaboration with administrators, parents, teachers, and students. Policies adopted by the districts included observances of Muslim holidays, Arabic-language programs, policies concerning prayer, and rules regarding modesty of females in physical education and sports. About 70 percent of the families in the district are low-income. Dearborn Public Schools offers free school lunch and breakfast to most of its kindergarten through 12th grade students through the Community Eligibility Program of the National School Lunch Program. All school meals in the district are halal and nut free, with a vegetarian option available at each meal. Academic performance Five schools in the district received National Blue Ribbon Schools Awards from the U.S. Department of Education from 2017 through 2021, including Iris Becker Elementary in 2017, STEM Middle School in 2018, Charles A. Lindbergh Elementary in 2019, and Haigh Elementary and Henry Ford Early College in 2021. Early college programs Dearborn Public Schools offers four early college programs through a partnership with Henry Ford College. All four programs allow students to attend school for five years to complete both a high school diploma and some college, potentially earning an associate degree,