Holly Academy, Holly MI - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Holly Academy

Holly Academy is a public charter school serving kindergarten through eighth grade in the village of Holly, in northern Oakland County. It is authorized by Central Michigan University and operates as its own district under the state's charter framework. The school draws families from Holly and the surrounding area, a small village with a compact downtown, a tourism-oriented commercial core, and a rural-to-suburban texture shaped by nearby lakes, parks, and recreation areas.

The village of Holly sits about fifteen miles south of Flint and roughly fifty-five miles northwest of Detroit. Its downtown is anchored by the historic Holly Hotel and several village parks, including Crapo Park near the CSX and Canadian National rail junction. Annual events like the Holly Dickens Festival and the nearby Michigan Renaissance Festival bring regional visitors, giving the village a seasonal rhythm that most small communities its size do not have. Publicly reported sources indicate the village's population has been declining modestly, and no major new housing developments were identified in recent searches. The housing market in the school's zip code sits above the statewide benchmark but below the national one, with modest year-over-year appreciation. Mortgage rates remain in the mid-six-percent range, and the broader economic picture is stable with unemployment holding steady.

Holly Academy's enrollment is moderate for a K through eight charter, with grade-level cohorts that thin somewhat as students approach eighth grade. The student body is predominantly white, with small shares of students from other racial and ethnic backgrounds. Just over a quarter of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which is a relatively low share and suggests a less economically disadvantaged population than many Michigan charter schools serve. Data on special education enrollment and English learners was not available, so those demographics cannot be characterized here.

Academically, Holly Academy stands out. Its overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades places it in the top quartile among districts in Oakland County, a comparison set that includes a large cohort of the county's districts. This is a strong position given that Oakland County contains some of the state's higher-performing systems. English language arts results are particularly strong in the upper elementary and middle grades, with most cohorts scoring well above state proficiency thresholds. Sixth-grade ELA is a standout, and eighth-grade ELA, assessed through the PSAT, falls in a high reported range. Science and social studies results are also solid across the two tested grade levels, with eighth-grade social studies especially strong.

Mathematics is more mixed. Third-grade math proficiency is high, but proficiency dips in fourth grade and stays in a middle range through the upper grades. Eighth-grade math, assessed via the PSAT, lands at about half of tested students meeting proficiency. This is an area where a parent may want to look into how the school supports math progression from the early grades into the middle grades, particularly given the stronger ELA performance relative to math.

Because Holly Academy does not serve high school grades, there is no graduation rate to report, and the school does not offer AP or career and technical education programs that a high school would. No program offerings data was provided beyond the standard curriculum, so information on extracurriculars, special programming, or enrichment is not available here. Data on staffing ratios, discipline, attendance, chronic absenteeism, and civil-rights indicators was also not available, so those dimensions cannot be addressed.

For a parent weighing Holly Academy, the school offers a solid academic pathway through the middle grades with above-average proficiency results for its county context, particularly in reading, writing, science, and social studies. The math trajectory is worth watching. The school's charter status means families choose it rather than being assigned by geography, and its relatively low free-or-reduced lunch rate and predominantly white enrollment shape the peer environment. Holly itself is a small community with a walkable downtown core, strong parks and recreation assets, and a quiet residential base, though it is not growing. The housing market is accessible relative to the national picture but slightly above the Michigan median. Families drawn to a smaller setting with a traditional school calendar and a proven academic track record in the elementary and middle grades will find the most alignment here.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 380%

School 80% · District 80%

▲ 38 pts above state median · ▲ 25 pts above county median

Grade 452%

School 52% · District 52%

▲ 13 pts above state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 559%

School 59% · District 59%

▲ 27 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

Grade 655%

School 55% · District 55%

▲ 27 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

Grade 756%

School 56% · District 56%

▲ 27 pts above state median · ▲ 16 pts above county median

Grade 850%

School 50% · District 50%

▲ 23 pts above state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 362%

School 62% · District 62%

▲ 24 pts above state median · ▲ 13 pts above county median

Grade 454%

School 54% · District 54%

▲ 14 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 576%

School 76% · District 76%

▲ 33 pts above state median · ▲ 20 pts above county median

Grade 682%

School 82% · District 82%

▲ 49 pts above state median · ▲ 39 pts above county median

Grade 771%

School 71% · District 71%

▲ 37 pts above state median · ▲ 24 pts above county median

Science

Grade 576%

School 76% · District 76%

▲ 36 pts above state median · ▲ 24 pts above county median

Grade 877%

School 77% · District 77%

▲ 40 pts above state median · ▲ 24 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 566%

School 66% · District 66%

▲ 37 pts above state median · ▲ 28 pts above county median

Grade 881%

School 81% · District 81%

▲ 38 pts above state median · ▲ 23 pts above county median

This schoolHolly 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-income43%Higher-income67%24 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income33%Higher-income62%29 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income64%Higher-income79%15 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income64%Higher-income84%19 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income43%Higher-income55%12 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income46%Higher-income62%16 pp gap