Pontiac Academy for Excellence, Pontiac MI

Original Research by School Decision on Pontiac Academy for Excellence

Pontiac Academy for Excellence is a charter school serving students from kindergarten through twelfth grade on a single campus in Pontiac, Michigan. It operates as its own charter district, one of many public school options in Oakland County. The school sits on Cesar E. Chavez Avenue in a city that has spent decades reworking its identity after the departure of General Motors, the manufacturer that once anchored its economy. An Amazon fulfillment center now stands where the Pontiac Silverdome once drew crowds, and Oakland County government offices provide a steadier base of public-sector employment. Housing here is among the most affordable in the broader Detroit metro, with home values well below both the state and national benchmarks, which may appeal to families looking to put down roots without stretching.

The student body is small for a school spanning all thirteen grades. Nearly every student qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, which speaks to the economic realities of the surrounding community. The enrollment is predominantly Black, with a large Hispanic minority and small shares of students identifying as multiracial, white, Asian, or American Indian. This is a school serving families who, by and large, live in the neighborhoods around it. Pontiac itself has a relatively young population, and the school's grade distribution reflects that, with enrollment thinning noticeably in the upper high school years.

On state assessments, the most recent results place Pontiac Academy for Excellence in the bottom quartile among districts in Oakland County for overall proficiency. Math results across grades three through eight were low, with some grades showing proficiency at or near the floor and the strongest grade reaching roughly a quarter of tested students. English language arts results followed a similar pattern, with one grade performing better than the rest but most sitting well below where a family would want to see proficiency. Science and social studies results, where the state tests them, were also low. These are plain facts from the state's own testing data. A parent weighing this school may want to look into how the school is responding to these results and what supports are in place for students working below grade level.

Several pieces of data that would help round out the picture are missing. No graduation rate was available for this school, so it is not possible to characterize how students fare at the finish line. Chronic absenteeism data was not reported. The school's IEP and English learner counts were not available, which limits the view of how the school serves students with disabilities or those developing English proficiency. No information on course access, staffing ratios, or program offerings was provided, so questions about Advanced Placement, career pathways, dual enrollment, arts, or athletics cannot be answered from what is here. The district brief turned up no documented changes in the last several years that would clear a bar for parent impact, which is consistent with this being a single-school charter operation rather than a large district with shifting boundaries or programs.

What can be said is that Pontiac Academy for Excellence offers a continuous kindergarten-through-twelfth-grade pathway under one roof in a community where affordable housing and proximity to county government and emerging employers shape daily life. The academic results from the most recent state testing cycle are weak across subjects and grades, and a family considering this school would benefit from asking directly what the instructional plan looks like, how intervention works, and what the upper-grade experience entails given the narrowing enrollment in the later years. The school's location in a city working through economic transition means the community context is part of the package, neither a selling point nor a drawback on its own, just the setting in which this school operates.

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Academic performance

State test results and graduation outcomes.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

>=90%Cohort of 31 students · Class of 2021

The federal source publishes a banded range instead of an exact rate when the graduating cohort is small enough that an exact number could risk identifying individual students.

How this school compares to all schools in this state

Each dot is one school’s SY 2020-21 graduation rate, binned by integer rate. Taller columns mean more schools at that rate. This school is highlighted.

1,027 schools plotted. 80 additional schools' rates are federally suppressed and not shown. Data: EDFacts SY 2020-21.

Math

Grade 39%

School 9% · District 9%

▼ 33 pts below state median · ▼ 45 pts below county median

Grade 423%

School 23% · District 23%

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 30 pts below county median

Grade 515%

School 15% · District 15%

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 30 pts below county median

Grade 76%

School 6% · District 6%

▼ 23 pts below state median · ▼ 34 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 39%

School 9% · District 9%

▼ 29 pts below state median · ▼ 41 pts below county median

Grade 410%

School 10% · District 10%

▼ 31 pts below state median · ▼ 44 pts below county median

Grade 527%

School 27% · District 27%

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

Grade 618%

School 18% · District 18%

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

Grade 79%

School 9% · District 9%

▼ 25 pts below state median · ▼ 38 pts below county median

Grade 818%

School 18% · District 18%

▼ 44 pts below state median · ▼ 57 pts below county median

Science

Grade 517%

School 17% · District 17%

▼ 23 pts below state median · ▼ 35 pts below county median

Grade 86%

School 6% · District 6%

▼ 31 pts below state median · ▼ 47 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 522%

School 22% · District 22%

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▼ 16 pts below county median

This schoolPontiac Academy for Excellence, 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.