West Mi Academy of Arts and Academics, Spring Lake MI

Original Research by School Decision on West Mi Academy of Arts and Academics

West MI Academy of Arts and Academics is a charter school serving kindergarten through eighth grade in Spring Lake, a small waterfront village in Ottawa County. It sits on Hazel Street, just a short distance from the village's compact, walkable downtown along Exchange Street. The school draws from a community where most residents own their homes and the setting carries a dense suburban feel with small-town character. Spring Lake itself rests on a lake of the same name, connected to the Grand River, with Lake Michigan beaches nearby and Grand Rapids within a short drive.

As a charter, this academy operates as its own district, and the enrollment is modest for a school spanning nine grade levels. The student body is predominantly white, with a Hispanic presence and a smaller share of students identifying as two or more races or Black. A substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which situates the school as serving a working-family population in a community whose housing costs run well above the state benchmark.

Academically, the picture is mixed and leans toward a clear pattern. English language arts results are the school's relative strength. Proficiency rises as students move through the grades, with the upper elementary and middle-grade ELA rates reaching into the range where roughly half of tested students meet or exceed standards. The eighth-grade ELA result, assessed through PSAT, stands as the strongest single mark the school posts. Social studies follows a similar upward trajectory, with eighth-grade results landing in a healthier band than fifth-grade.

Math tells a different story. Across every tested grade, math proficiency sits well below the levels the same students post in reading. The lowest points come in sixth and eighth grade, where only a small fraction of tested students reach proficiency. Science results, available only for fifth and eighth grade, fall into a middling range. Taken together, the school's overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile relative to districts in Ottawa County, a set of seventeen districts where the median proficiency sits well above where this school currently stands. A parent weighing this school may want to look into how math instruction is structured and what interventions are available for students working below grade level.

No graduation rate applies here because the school does not extend into high school. Similarly, no chronic absenteeism data was reported, and IEP and English learner counts were not available in the data provided. Civil rights data, staffing levels, discipline figures, and program offerings such as arts integration or advanced coursework were not included in the materials, so those dimensions cannot be characterized here. The school's name suggests an arts-and-academics focus, but the available data does not describe specific curricular programs, extracurriculars, or partnerships that would fill in what that looks like day to day.

Spring Lake as a place offers a strong civic backdrop. The village has invested heavily in public spaces, including a recently completed waterfront park on the Grand River with a splash pad and kayak rental. A paved trail connects the village to the broader Lakeshore corridor. Annual events bring street life, and the downtown has locally owned shops and a district library. The housing market is competitive, with values well above the statewide figure and rents that reflect the desirability of a lakefront community near larger employment centers. Many residents commute to Grand Rapids, Grand Haven, or Muskegon for work, with healthcare, manufacturing, and retail being the largest employing industries for village residents.

For a family considering this school, the relevant questions center on whether the ELA trajectory and the small-school environment are enough to offset the math weakness, and what the arts component actually delivers in practice. The school serves a population with real economic need in a community whose housing costs may stretch some household budgets. Families may want to ask the school directly about math support, classroom sizes at the upper grades, and how the arts mission translates into daily instruction.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 321%

School 21% · District 21%

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 37 pts below county median

Grade 425%

School 25% · District 25%

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 28 pts below county median

Grade 528%

School 28% · District 28%

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

Grade 611%

School 11% · District 11%

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 33 pts below county median

Grade 732%

School 32% · District 32%

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Grade 810%

School 10% · District 10%

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 32 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 331%

School 31% · District 31%

▼ 7 pts below state median · ▼ 25 pts below county median

Grade 436%

School 36% · District 36%

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▼ 24 pts below county median

Grade 552%

School 52% · District 52%

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

Grade 642%

School 42% · District 42%

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

Grade 754%

School 54% · District 54%

▲ 20 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 859%

School 59% · District 59%

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▼ 20 pts below county median

Science

Grade 536%

School 36% · District 36%

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▼ 21 pts below county median

Grade 829%

School 29% · District 29%

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▼ 29 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 530%

School 30% · District 30%

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▼ 14 pts below county median

Grade 846%

School 46% · District 46%

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

This schoolWest MI Academy of Arts and Academics, 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-income23%Higher-income50%27 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income32%Higher-income44%12 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income29%Higher-income75%46 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income30%Higher-income56%26 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income56%Higher-income50%6 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income21%Higher-income21%1 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income21%Higher-income31%10 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income19%Higher-income38%19 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income33%Higher-income30%3 pp gap