The top reported proficiency rate is 45% in Social studies. The lowest is 29% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Creative Technologies Academy
Creative Technologies Academy is a single-school public charter district serving pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade in Cedar Springs and the surrounding West Michigan communities. Ferris State University authorizes the charter, and publicly reported records indicate the school was reauthorized with a contract running through mid-2026, confirming its continued operation as a tuition-free option for families in the area. The district sits within Kent County, which contains a large set of districts for comparison.
This is a small school. Enrollment is modest, with roughly two dozen students per grade level, which gives the place an intimate feel where classmates and teachers know each other across the years. The student body is predominantly white, with a small Hispanic presence and very few students from other racial or ethnic backgrounds. Information on free or reduced-price lunch eligibility, special education populations, and English learner status was not available, so the picture of economic and linguistic diversity within the school is incomplete. A parent may want to ask the school directly about those demographics.
Academic results from the most recent state assessments show a mixed profile. In English language arts, performance varies considerably by grade. Middle grades hover in the lower to middle range, but eighth grade stands out as a clear strength, with a large majority of tested students reaching proficiency on the PSAT. That eighth grade cohort also performed well in social studies, with most students proficient. Science results in the tested grades landed in the middle range. Mathematics is the softer area. Across the tested grades, math proficiency tends to sit below the county's midpoint, and fifth grade math was particularly low. The school's overall proficiency index across tested subjects and grades places it below the midpoint among Kent County's districts. Participation rates were not reported, and no multi-year trend data was available, so it is hard to say whether these results represent an improvement or a decline from prior years.
Chronic absenteeism at the school sits close to the county median, slightly better than the typical district in the cohort. Per-pupil current spending falls in the middle to lower range among the county's districts, below the median but not at the bottom. A graduation rate was not reported for this entity, so families looking for that signal of high school outcomes will need to seek it from the school directly. The same goes for staffing details, course access information, discipline data, and program offerings, none of which were available in the data provided.
The district brief does not reference any recent academic program changes, facility investments, or strategic initiatives beyond the charter reauthorization. No locale brief was available for Cedar Springs or the surrounding area, so the housing market, commute patterns, and community context that would help a family situate the school geographically are absent from this account. A parent considering Creative Technologies Academy would benefit from visiting and asking about graduation rates, post-secondary outcomes, the math curriculum, and supports for students who are not yet proficient, since those pieces are not captured in the available data.
What the evidence does show is a small, stable charter school with a long grade span, a homogenous student body, uneven academic results that lean below the county midpoint overall, and some genuinely strong outcomes in eighth grade English and social studies. For a family drawn to a small, continuous PK-through-12 environment in the Cedar Springs area, this is a plausible option, particularly worth exploring for the upper grades where the school's results are strongest.
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