The top reported proficiency rate is 25% in English language arts. The lowest is 6% in Social studies.
Original Research by School Decision on Oakland International Academy Elementary
Oakland International Academy Elementary is a charter school serving grades two through five on Miller Street in Detroit, near the city's east side. It sits within the Oakland International Academy district, a charter authorizer, and operates as a regular public charter rather than a magnet or specialty school. The building serves a sizable enrollment for a four-grade span, with roughly even distribution across the grades.
The student body is predominantly white, with smaller Asian, Black, and Hispanic populations, and a handful of students identifying as two or more races or American Indian/Alaska Native. Nearly half the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The school did not report English learner counts or special education counts for this campus, so those portions of the picture are missing here. The district's own reporting notes that a substantial share of students at its lower campus are English Language Learners, and the district has adopted the Marzano instructional model with a dedicated language acquisition component to address that need. Whether that population extends into this elementary building is something a parent may want to ask the school directly, since the data gap makes it hard to say.
On state testing through Michigan's M-STEP in the most recent reported year, proficiency rates sit in the low-to-mid range across subjects and grades. In math, the share of students scoring proficient or above declines as students move up: third grade posts the strongest result, fourth grade drops, and fifth grade falls further. ELA results are more consistent across the three tested grades, hovering in the same modest band each year. Fifth grade science lands near the ELA and math range, while fifth grade social studies is notably lower, with only a small fraction of tested students reaching proficiency. Participation rates were not reported for any tested grade or subject, which limits what can be said about how fully the tested population represents the school's enrollment. No multi-year trend data was available, so it is not possible to say from the data whether these results are improving, holding steady, or slipping over time.
Against the comparison set of districts in Wayne County, the school's overall proficiency index sits below the midpoint but above the bottom of the range. That places it in the lower half of the county's districts on this measure, though not at the floor. Graduation rate does not apply here because the school does not serve high school grades, and no chronic absenteeism figure was reported for this campus.
The surrounding neighborhood is in Detroit, a major urban center and the historic hub of the American automotive industry. The city has seen renewed population growth as of recently reported estimates, driven by immigration and new housing construction, after decades of decline. Revitalization has concentrated in Midtown, Corktown, and the East Riverfront, with projects like the Hudson's site redevelopment and the Gordie Howe International Bridge underway. The school's zip code carries very low housing values compared with both state and national benchmarks, and those values have been declining year over year. Rental data was not available for this area. For families considering buying near the school, housing is inexpensive by any standard, though the declining trend and the broader economic context of the neighborhood are worth understanding before committing.
At the district level, Oakland International Academy has reported a rising graduation rate over a five-year span, reaching a level that places it among a high tier of Michigan public school districts by that measure. That is a district-level outcome and reflects the full grade span the charter serves, not this elementary building alone. Still, it suggests the organization has been building toward stronger completion outcomes over time.
What this school offers is a charter option in a Detroit neighborhood with very affordable housing, a fairly large student body for its grade range, and a district that has made language acquisition a stated priority. The academic results available are modest across the board, with math declining in the upper grades and social studies particularly low. A parent weighing this school would want to ask about English learner and special education services, since those were not reported, and about how the district's language acquisition focus plays out in the second-through-fifth grade classrooms here. The data does not show a standout program or a weakness that disqualifies the school. It shows a place with room to grow, in a city working through its own renewal, with a charter operator that has set improvement priorities it can be asked about.
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