Joseph K Lumsden Bahweting Anishnabe Academy, Sault Sainte Marie MI

Original Research by School Decision on Joseph K Lumsden Bahweting Anishnabe Academy

Joseph K. Lumsden Bahweting Anishnabe Academy is a charter school in Sault Ste. Marie serving students from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. Its name and enrollment reflect a clear Anishnabe cultural identity. A majority of students identify as American Indian or Alaska Native, with a substantial white enrollment and smaller multiracial and Hispanic populations. A large share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The school operates as its own charter district rather than feeding into a traditional local district.

On state assessments, the school shows a distinctive split between subjects. English language arts is where the school does its strongest work, and the pattern sharpens as students move up through the grades. Third and fourth grade ELA proficiency sits below the midpoint, but by fifth grade results climb, and in seventh and eighth grade the share of students reaching proficiency is quite high. Eighth grade ELA, measured through the PSAT, is a genuine bright spot. Science and social studies follow a similar arc, with eighth grade results in both subjects standing well above what most schools post. Social studies at eighth grade is particularly strong.

Math tells a different story. Third grade math starts at a moderate level, but proficiency dips in the middle grades, with fourth and especially sixth grade results landing on the lower side. Seventh grade math recovers somewhat, and eighth grade holds at a modest level. The gap between the school's ELA performance and its math performance is consistent across grades. A parent whose child is strong in reading and writing will find confirmation here, while a family concerned about math foundations may want to look into how the school supports that area.

Measured against other districts in Chippewa County, the school's overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades places it in the top quartile. That positioning is driven largely by its ELA, science, and social studies results rather than math. Because the school does not serve high school grades, there is no graduation rate to report, and the absence of that metric reflects the grade band rather than any gap in performance. Data on chronic absenteeism was not available. Information on special education enrollment, English learner counts, discipline, staffing ratios, and course access was also missing from what was provided, so those dimensions of the school environment cannot be characterized here.

Sault Ste. Marie is a small Upper Peninsula city and the seat of Chippewa County. Publicly reported sources describe it as the oldest city in Michigan, settled by French colonists, with a downtown that sits on an island formed by the Sault Ste. Marie Power Canal and the St. Marys River. The Soo Locks, operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, pass a large volume of Great Lakes shipping traffic each year and anchor the city's identity. Lake Superior State University occupies a former military fort site as a separate campus. The International Bridge connects the city to Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, adding cross-border traffic. Tourism around the locks and outdoor recreation, along with the university and government functions, are the main economic anchors. The population has been stable to slightly declining, and no major new development projects were identified in publicly available sources.

Housing in the school's zip code is affordable relative to both state and national benchmarks, with typical home values well below the Michigan median and roughly half the national figure. For families considering the area, that means homeownership is more attainable here than in much of the state. Rental data was not available.

The school fits a family looking for a culturally grounded Anishnabe educational setting with solid reading, writing, science, and social studies outcomes, particularly in the upper elementary and middle grades. The math results are a softer area, and the missing data on special populations, staffing, and discipline means a parent would want to ask the school directly about those supports before deciding. What the numbers do show is a school where older students are performing well in several subjects and where the community context is a small, historic waterfront city with modest housing costs and a distinct regional identity.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 341%

School 41% · District 41%

even with state median

Grade 423%

School 23% · District 23%

▼ 15 pts below state median

Grade 530%

School 30% · District 30%

▼ 2 pts below state median

Grade 618%

School 18% · District 18%

▼ 10 pts below state median

Grade 742%

School 42% · District 42%

▲ 13 pts above state median

Grade 831%

School 31% · District 31%

▲ 4 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 327%

School 27% · District 27%

▼ 11 pts below state median

Grade 432%

School 32% · District 32%

▼ 9 pts below state median

Grade 548%

School 48% · District 48%

▲ 6 pts above state median

Grade 638%

School 38% · District 38%

▲ 4 pts above state median

Grade 758%

School 58% · District 58%

▲ 24 pts above state median

Grade 875%

School 75% · District 75%

▲ 12 pts above state median

Science

Grade 552%

School 52% · District 52%

▲ 12 pts above state median

Grade 863%

School 63% · District 63%

▲ 26 pts above state median

Social studies

Grade 540%

School 40% · District 40%

▲ 12 pts above state median

Grade 877%

School 77% · District 77%

▲ 34 pts above state median

This schoolJoseph K. Lumsden Bahweting Anishnabe Academy, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 3Lower-income18%Higher-income39%22 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income15%Higher-income49%33 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income39%Higher-income57%18 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income28%Higher-income48%20 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income58%Higher-income59%2 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income74%Higher-income75%1 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income33%Higher-income54%21 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income24%Higher-income35%10 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income39%Higher-income44%5 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income26%Higher-income38%12 pp gap