Timberland Academy, Muskegon MI - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Timberland Academy

Timberland Academy is a charter school on Muskegon's south side serving kindergarten through eighth grade. It operates as its own single-school district, managed by National Heritage Academies, a charter management organization. The building sits on McLaughlin Avenue in a working-area part of the city, close to the residential and industrial fabric that defines much of Muskegon.

The student body is predominantly Black, with smaller Hispanic and multiracial populations and a modest share of White students. Nearly every child qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, which places the school squarely in the category of serving a high-poverty community. The enrollment is spread fairly evenly across the nine grade levels, with class cohorts that are moderate in size for a K-through-eight building. The school does not report data on English learners or students with individualized education programs, so those shares are not available here.

On Michigan's M-STEP and PSAT assessments from the most recent testing cycle, proficiency rates are low across most subjects and grades. In math, roughly a quarter of third and fourth graders reached proficiency, but that share drops considerably in the upper elementary and middle grades, where only about one in seven or one in eight students tested proficient. English language arts follows a similar arc, with the strongest results in third and fourth grade, a dip through the middle grades, and a rebound in eighth grade on the PSAT, where the proficiency rate is the highest of any grade in either subject. Science and social studies are tested only in fifth and eighth grade. Fifth-grade results in both are quite low, while eighth-grade results are meaningfully stronger, particularly in science, where the proficiency rate approaches a third of tested students.

Against the comparison set of districts in Muskegon County, Timberland Academy's overall proficiency sits below the midpoint. The county's proficiency range is wide, with some districts performing at much higher levels and others closer to or below Timberland. A parent weighing this school may want to look into what supports are in place for students performing below grade level, particularly in the upper elementary years where the dip is most pronounced.

Because Timberland serves only through eighth grade, it has no graduation rate, and that metric does not apply here. The school does not report chronic absenteeism, discipline, course access, or staffing details, so those pieces of the picture are absent from the available data. No program offerings, magnet designations, or specialized academic pathways were reported either.

Muskegon itself is a lakefront city and the county seat, historically tied to lumber and then to manufacturing of paper, automotive parts, machinery, and chemicals. Publicly reported sources describe a downtown that has gathered civic and cultural anchors along Muskegon Lake, including a convention center completed in the early 2020s, an arena, the Frauenthal Center for the Performing Arts, and the Muskegon Museum of Art. The city has a community college whose campus hosts partner programs from several regional universities. Lake Michigan is close, with Pere Marquette Beach, Muskegon State Park, and P.J. Hoffmaster State Park all nearby. A high-speed ferry connects Muskegon to Milwaukee in warmer months. An EPA cleanup of Muskegon Lake was completed and the lake's removal from a federal list of areas of concern was expected to spur further economic activity near downtown and the lakefront.

The housing market around the school is affordable relative to both state and national benchmarks. Home values and rents in the school's zip code sit well below the statewide and national figures, and values have been rising modestly year over year. Rents have been climbing a bit faster than home values in percentage terms. No affordability ratio was available, and specific major housing developments near the school were not detailed in the available sources.

Timberland Academy is a charter option serving a predominantly low-income, predominantly Black student population in a city with a deep industrial heritage and an active lakefront. Its state assessment results are weak in most grades and subjects, with a few brighter spots in early elementary and eighth grade. Families considering this school would be choosing a smaller, standalone charter environment and may want to ask directly about academic intervention strategies, classroom support, and how the school prepares students for the transition to high school.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 323%

School 23% · District 23%

▼ 19 pts below state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

Grade 427%

School 27% · District 27%

▼ 12 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 512%

School 12% · District 12%

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

Grade 613%

School 13% · District 13%

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

Grade 717%

School 17% · District 17%

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

Grade 814%

School 14% · District 14%

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

English language arts

Grade 324%

School 24% · District 24%

▼ 14 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Grade 427%

School 27% · District 27%

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

Grade 519%

School 19% · District 19%

▼ 23 pts below state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

Grade 617%

School 17% · District 17%

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 18 pts below county median

Grade 712%

School 12% · District 12%

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

Grade 835%

School 35% · District 35%

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

Science

Grade 511%

School 11% · District 11%

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

Grade 833%

School 33% · District 33%

▼ 4 pts below state median · even with county median

Social studies

Grade 59%

School 9% · District 9%

▼ 19 pts below state median · ▼ 18 pts below county median

Grade 827%

School 27% · District 27%

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 14 pts below county median

This schoolTimberland 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.