The top reported proficiency rate is 29% in Science. The lowest is 15% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Madison Academy
Madison Academy is a small, single-district charter system in Genesee County, Michigan, serving students from kindergarten through twelfth grade across two schools: an elementary-middle building and a high school. The enrollment is modest for a district spanning all grade bands, and the student body is predominantly Black, with smaller White, Hispanic, and multiracial populations. Because the district has no traditional geographic boundaries in the way a conventional public district does, families choosing Madison Academy are making an active decision to enroll here rather than being assigned by attendance zones.
Academically, state assessment results from the most recent year paint a mixed but generally sobering picture. In mathematics, proficiency rates across the tested elementary and middle grades are mostly low, with several grades showing only a small fraction of students reaching proficiency. Eighth-grade math, measured through the PSAT, was especially weak, with the reported proficiency falling in the lowest range. English language arts showed somewhat more variation, with fifth grade standing out as a relative bright spot and a few other grades landing in the mid-teens to low-twenties range. Science results diverged sharply by grade: fifth-grade science was a genuine strength, with half of tested students reaching proficiency, while eighth-grade science was very low. Social studies proficiency was low in both tested grades. Taken together, the district's overall proficiency index sits below the midpoint among Genesee County's districts, meaning a typical county district outperforms Madison Academy on aggregate tested results.
A parent weighing these results may want to look into how the school supports students working below grade level, particularly in math as students approach the transition to high school. The data sections on this page carry the specific figures by grade and subject.
On the resource side, per-pupil current spending sits in the upper range among Genesee County districts, above the county median. This suggests the district directs a comparatively high level of funding per student, though the data available does not break down how those dollars translate into staffing ratios, intervention programs, or classroom resources. Chronic absenteeism, reported for the district, falls below the county median, which is a favorable sign given that lower absenteeism generally correlates with stronger student engagement. A parent may still want to ask the school about attendance patterns at specific grade levels, since the overall figure does not reveal where absenteeism concentrates.
Several data points that would help round out the picture are missing. The district does not report a four-year graduation rate in the available data, nor does it report free-or-reduced-price lunch counts, special-education rates, or English-learner figures. The absence of FRPL data means we cannot characterize the economic need of the student body from this source. The absence of a graduation rate means we cannot speak to how well the high school moves students through to completion. Program offerings, course access details, staffing ratios, and discipline data were also not available, so we left those out rather than guess. No locale brief was provided for the surrounding community, and no district-level brief on recent changes turned up anything of lasting impact; publicly reported sources surfaced demographic and fiscal snapshots but no evidence of referendums, curriculum overhauls, or property-tax shifts.
What the available evidence does show is a small, predominantly Black charter district with high per-pupil spending, a strong fifth-grade science result, and mostly low proficiency elsewhere. For a family drawn to a smaller environment with a single K-12 pathway, the questions worth bringing to the school directly concern math instruction in the upper elementary and middle grades, the supports backing students who are below proficiency, and what the high school experience looks like given that no graduation rate is reported here. The school's answers to those questions will tell a family more than the test results alone.
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