The top reported proficiency rate is 30% in English language arts. The lowest is 10% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Great Lakes Learning Academy
Great Lakes Learning Academy is a tuition-free virtual public charter school serving students in grades six through twelve across Michigan, operating within Ingham County. It runs two schools under its umbrella: a combined middle and high school program and an alternative high school. The district recently rebranded from "Great Lakes Cyber Academy" to its current name, a change parents and prospective families will encounter on the district's website and in its annual education report, even as some federal data sources still list the former name. The enrollment is modest for a statewide virtual school, with the largest concentration of students in the high school grades.
The student body is majority white, with Black students representing the next largest group, followed by Hispanic students and students of two or more races. A small number of American Indian or Alaska Native and Asian students round out the population. Data on free or reduced-price lunch eligibility, special education enrollment, and English learner status was not available, so we cannot characterize the economic composition or the share of students receiving specialized services. This is a gap a parent may want to ask the school about directly.
On state assessments, proficiency rates are low in math across the middle grades, with a declining pattern from sixth through eighth grade. English language arts results are more mixed: sixth and seventh grade proficiency sits below what most county districts post, while eighth grade ELA proficiency is comparatively strong. Science and social studies proficiency for eighth graders falls in the lower range. Measured against the set of Ingham County's districts, the school's overall proficiency index lands in the bottom quartile. These are the only tested grades and subjects in the available data, and the school's virtual model may shape these results in ways that differ from a traditional building-based school. Still, a parent considering this option may want to look into the school's approach to math instruction and academic support, particularly in the middle grades, to understand how it serves students working below grade level.
The chronic absenteeism rate reported for this district is the highest among Ingham County's districts, sitting in the bottom quartile on a measure where lower is better. For a fully virtual school, attendance and engagement metrics can be defined and tracked differently than in a traditional setting, and a rate at this level may reflect the nature of online enrollment rather than a straightforward comparison. This is another area where a family would benefit from asking the school how it monitors participation and keeps students connected.
Per-pupil current spending falls in the lower range among the county's districts. No graduation rate was available, which limits the picture of how the school's high school students fare on time to completion. The district brief did not surface strategic priorities or program-specific offerings beyond the virtual instructional model itself, so we left those out rather than guess.
No locale brief or community context was provided for this entity, which makes sense given that it is a statewide virtual charter rather than a place-based district tied to a particular town or neighborhood. Families would not be choosing Great Lakes Learning Academy for its geographic community but for its online format and flexibility. The school appears to serve a role for students seeking an alternative to a traditional classroom, whether for scheduling, personal, or academic reasons. The rebranding from "Cyber Academy" to "Learning Academy" suggests an effort to refresh that identity. For a family weighing this option, the central questions are how the school supports students academically in a virtual setting, how it tracks and sustains engagement, and what its graduation outcomes look like, since those data points were not available to include here.
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