The top reported proficiency rate is 20% in Math. The lowest is 15% in Social studies.
Original Research by School Decision on Cole Academy
Cole Academy is a small elementary-only public school district in Ingham County, Michigan, serving kindergarten through fifth grade across two buildings, Cole Academy and Cole Academy East. The enrollment is modest for its grade band, with roughly even distribution across the six grade levels. The student body is racially and ethnically diverse, with white, Black, and Hispanic students each forming close to a quarter or more of the population, and a meaningful portion of students identified as two or more races. Asian and American Indian or Alaska Native students are present in very small numbers.
Several data fields that parents often rely on are missing here. Free-or-reduced-price lunch counts were not reported, so the economic profile of the student body is not something we can characterize from the available information. Special population data, including students with individualized education programs and English learners, was also not available. The district's charter status, magnet status, and Title I designation are all listed as unknown. We looked for a locale brief describing the surrounding community and housing context, but none was available, so we cannot speak to the residential setting, housing costs, or commute patterns. No program offerings were reported, so we have no information on extracurriculars, specialized instruction, or academic pathways beyond the standard elementary curriculum.
On state assessments, Cole Academy's results are available for the most recent school year across the three tested elementary grades. In math, proficiency rates sit in the low twenties for third and fourth grade and drop somewhat in fifth grade. English language arts follows a different pattern, with third grade showing the weakest results and fifth grade the strongest, where roughly a quarter of tested students reached proficiency. Science and social studies are tested only in fifth grade, and both show proficiency in the mid-teens. Taken together, the district's overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades places it in the bottom quartile among Ingham County's districts, well below the county median.
A parent reading these results may want to look into this further with the school. The numbers are low across the board, and the gap between Cole Academy and the typical Ingham County district is wide. That said, proficiency data alone does not capture everything about a school's culture, teacher relationships, or individual student growth, and the missing economic and special-population context makes it harder to interpret these results fairly. A direct conversation with school leadership about how they are responding to these results would be a reasonable next step.
Chronic absenteeism is reported as above the county median, which means a larger share of students here are missing a substantial amount of school than at the typical district in the comparison set. This is a factor worth understanding, because absenteeism at the elementary level can compound academic challenges and because it may point to transportation, health, or family circumstances that the school is or is not equipped to address.
Per-pupil current spending is in the lower range among the county's districts, below even the lowest-spending comparator in the set. Spending levels do not automatically determine outcomes, but a parent asking about academic support resources, classroom materials, and specialist availability would be justified in asking how the budget translates into day-to-day classroom experience.
Because Cole Academy serves only kindergarten through fifth grade, there is no graduation rate, no ACT or SAT data, and no AP or career-pathway information to report. These gaps reflect the grade range, not missing reporting. No multi-year trend data was available, so we cannot say whether these proficiency levels are improving, declining, or stable. The district brief searched for recent parent-relevant changes and found little of lasting impact, so there are no new programs, leadership shifts, or policy changes on record that would reshape a family's understanding of the place today.
For a family weighing Cole Academy, the picture from the data is straightforward: a small, diverse elementary setting with state test results that trail most of its Ingham County peers, absenteeism above the county midpoint, and spending below the county range. What the data cannot tell you is how the school feels to its students and families, what the classrooms look like day to day, and how leadership plans to move these numbers. Those questions are worth asking directly.
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