Bentley High School (Livonia, Michigan)

Before the school was built, high school students in the district attended either Redford Union High School in Redford Township or Plymouth High School in nearby Plymouth. Because the community was growing, the decision was made in 1945 to build a high school in the city. Most in the community wanted to call the school Livonia High School, but it was eventually named after George N. Bentley, a former student at Elm Elementary School in the district and a school board member at the time of the school's groundbreaking in 1946. The original two-story building also housed seventh and eighth graders during the first few years of operation. As the population of Livonia grew during the 1950s, the school required expansion. During the 1950s, two wings, a gymnasium, auto shop area, pool, auditorium and multi-purpose room were added to the school.

Because of continued growth in the district (approximately 2,500 students per year district-wide), ground was broken for a second high school named Franklin High School, which opened in the 1962-63 school year. During the 1961–62 school year, over 600 Franklin High School sophomores shared Bentley High School with the school operating on a dual schedule: Franklin teachers and students began classes later than the Bentley students. During the 1960s, the school underwent additional expansion as another wing, a library, addition to the cafeteria, music rooms, and home economics classrooms were added.

During the 1965-66 school year, Bentley shared the building with the first graduating class of Stevenson High School while it was being built. Stevenson students attended classes on a later schedule than the Bentley students.

The 1970s started with strong and steady enrollment, peaking during the 1974–75 school year (the school district itself actually peaked in enrollment during the 1970–71 school year). As the decade progressed and the Detroit economy experienced a downturn, the school and district were losing students rapidly. By the early 1980s the district had lost 51% of its peak enrollment. A freshman class was added to Bentley High School for the 1979–80 school year, the first ninth grade class in over 20 years.

Faced with operating four public high schools and shrinking enrollment, the Board decided to close a high school. Bentley was the obvious choice as it was the oldest facility, its operational costs were the highest, and major renovations were needed for the entire building. The decision to close the school was announced in May 1983 and the school finally closed with the graduation of its final class in June 1985. All remaining underclassmen were distributed among the other three public high schools based on residential proximity to each school.