The top reported proficiency rate is 55% in Science. The lowest is 47% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Paragon Charter Academy
Paragon Charter Academy operates as a single-school charter district in Jackson County, Michigan, serving kindergarten through eighth grade. The enrollment is moderate for a K-8 charter, with fairly even distribution across the early grades that tapers somewhat by middle school. The student body is racially mixed, with white students forming the largest group and Black, multiracial, Hispanic, and Asian students all represented in meaningful proportions. Free-or-reduced-price lunch data, special-education counts, and English-learner figures were not available, so it is hard to gauge the economic or linguistic needs of the population from what was provided. A parent may want to ask the school directly about those demographics.
On state assessments, the most recent results paint a mixed but generally strong picture. Math proficiency starts high in third grade, dips through the upper elementary years, and rebounds sharply by eighth grade, where students take the PSAT and post the strongest math result in the grade span. English language arts follows a similar arc: modest in the elementary grades, climbing in seventh, and reaching a high mark by eighth grade. Science and social studies are tested only in fifth and eighth grades, and the pattern holds. Fifth-grade results in both subjects are the weakest in the building, while eighth-grade results in both are among the strongest. The school's overall proficiency index, which averages performance across tested subjects and grades, places it in the top quartile among Jackson County's districts, near the top of the cohort. That is a real strength and suggests the school is doing effective work, particularly as students approach high school transition.
The chronic absenteeism rate, by contrast, sits in the bottom quartile of the county, meaning a higher share of students are chronically absent here than at most neighboring districts. This is a soft spot worth attention. High absenteeism can drag down both individual learning and classroom momentum, and it may partly explain the dip in upper-elementary proficiency. A parent considering this school would do well to ask how the school addresses attendance and what supports exist for families whose children miss school regularly.
Per-pupil current spending falls in the lower range among Jackson County districts. This is a neutral fact about how the charter is funded relative to its neighbors, but it does mean the school is working with fewer dollars than most of the county's traditional districts. Whether that affects class sizes, specialist staffing, or program breadth is something a family might explore. The data we received did not include staffing ratios, course access details, or discipline information, so those dimensions of school life are not covered here.
No program offerings were provided, so we cannot describe extracurriculars, arts, athletics, or specialized academic pathways. The district brief turned up little of lasting impact from recent searches, so there are no parent-relevant changes or strategic priorities to report. A locale brief was also absent, so we cannot characterize the surrounding community, housing market, or commute context.
Because Paragon serves only through eighth grade, there is no graduation rate to report; that metric applies to high schools and does not apply here. Similarly, there are no Advanced Placement, dual-credit, or career-pathway data, which is consistent with the grade band. What the evidence does show is a charter school with uneven elementary performance, a strong middle-school finish, a demographically diverse enrollment, a concerning absenteeism rate, and a lean budget relative to its county peers. For a family drawn to a smaller K-8 charter environment and willing to engage on attendance, the eighth-grade results suggest students leave well prepared for high school. The elementary years bear closer questioning.
See more original research from School Decision →