The top reported proficiency rate is 62% in Science. The lowest is 46% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Three Lakes Academy
Three Lakes Academy is a small, rural charter school district in Mackinac County serving pre-kindergarten through sixth grade. It operates as a single school rather than a network, so the district and the school are effectively the same institution. The district brief turned up no recent parent-relevant changes or strategic initiatives beyond basic directory information, so this account sticks to what the data shows.
The enrollment is small, with a handful of students at each grade level. That means class sizes are intimate and teachers likely know every child by name, but it also means each cohort is tiny. State testing data reflects this: only a few dozen students sit for the M-STEP in a given grade, so a single student's performance can shift the proficiency picture noticeably. Parents reading these results should keep that volatility in mind rather than treating any one year as a stable trend.
On Mackinac County's M-STEP results, Three Lakes Academy's overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades places it in the top quartile among the county's districts. That is a genuinely strong standing for a small rural school. The pattern within the building is uneven in a way that small cohorts often produce. Fifth grade stands out as a clear bright spot, with a strong majority of students reaching proficiency in math, English language arts, and science, plus a solid showing in social studies. Third and fourth grade results are more modest in both math and ELA, sitting closer to what one might consider middling. Sixth grade lands in between. There is no single subject where the school is consistently weak, but the earlier elementary grades show room for growth. A parent whose child is entering those grades may want to ask the school how it supports early literacy and numeracy to understand what is in place.
Because Three Lakes Academy stops at sixth grade, there is no graduation rate to report. That gap simply reflects the grade band, not a missing outcome. Similarly, the state does not test pre-kindergarten through second grade, so no results appear for those years.
The student body is predominantly white, with a smaller Native American presence and a very small Hispanic enrollment. Free-or-reduced-price lunch data was not available, so the economic profile of the families served cannot be characterized from what we have. IEP and English-learner figures were also missing, so the degree of specialized support the school provides cannot be assessed here. These are gaps a parent might ask about directly, since understanding how a school serves students with disabilities or language learners matters for many families.
Chronic absenteeism sits below the midpoint among Mackinac County's districts, meaning the rate is somewhat higher than the county median. For a school this small, a few families with irregular attendance can move that number. It is worth a conversation with the school to learn what it does to keep kids coming every day, especially in a rural setting where weather and distance can complicate the routine.
Per-pupil current spending is in the lower range among the county's districts. That does not necessarily translate into a weaker experience at this size, where a single classroom and a close-knit staff can deliver a lot without large overhead. Still, parents comparing options may want to understand what that spending level means for staffing, materials, and enrichment.
No locale brief or community context was provided, so this account cannot describe the surrounding town, housing market, or commute patterns. Mackinac County is known publicly as a sparsely populated Upper Peninsula region, and Three Lakes Academy's district brief identifies it as rural, but anything more specific about the community is absent from the available data.
What the evidence supports is a picture of a very small rural charter elementary where a family can expect personal attention, where the upper elementary grades are producing strong proficiency results, and where the early grades are more mixed. The county comparison is favorable on academics. The questions worth asking before enrolling are practical ones: how the school handles the transition after sixth grade, what the attendance culture looks like day to day, and how it serves children who need extra support.
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