The top reported proficiency rate is 36% in Social studies. The lowest is 16% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Burton Glen Charter Academy
Burton Glen Charter Academy is a kindergarten-through-eighth-grade charter school on Atherton Road in Burton, a sprawling suburb of Flint in Genesee County. The school serves a student body that is predominantly Black, with a sizable multiracial enrollment and smaller white and Hispanic shares. Nearly every student qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, which places this school among the highest-poverty settings in the county. The enrollment is moderate for a K-through-8 building, with the largest cohorts in the early grades and thinner groups in the upper elementary and middle years, which is a common pattern in charter schools that lose students as families transition to other options for high school.
On state assessments, the most recent results paint a mixed but recognizable picture. In math, proficiency is strongest in third and fourth grade, where roughly two-fifths of tested students meet the benchmark, and then drops sharply in fifth grade before settling into a lower band through seventh and eighth. The middle-grade math results are modest, and a parent weighing upper-elementary placement may want to look into how the school supports students through that transition. In English language arts, the pattern is more encouraging in some respects. Third and fourth grade land in the upper twenties to mid-thirties in proficiency, fifth through seventh hover in the low twenties to high twenties, and eighth grade stands out: on the PSAT-based ELA measure, a clear majority of eighth graders reached proficiency. That eighth-grade ELA result is the school's brightest academic signal and suggests some students build strong reading and writing skills by the time they finish middle school.
Science and social studies results are limited because Michigan tests those subjects only at certain grade levels. Fifth-grade science proficiency is very low, and eighth-grade science is in the mid-twenties. Social studies shows a near-zero proficient count in fifth grade and a mid-thirties rate in eighth. These are soft spots, stated plainly, and a parent may want to ask the school how it approaches science and social studies instruction across the intermediate grades.
When placed against districts in Genesee County, Burton Glen's overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades sits above the county midpoint. That positioning reflects the strength of the early-grade math and eighth-grade ELA results lifting the aggregate, even as several grades remain below the midpoint. Because this is a K-through-8 school, there is no graduation rate to report, and the school does not serve the grade bands where that metric applies.
The data we looked for on chronic absenteeism, discipline, course access, staffing ratios, and special-population counts such as English learners and students with individualized education programs was not available. We also searched for program offerings, advanced coursework, extracurriculars, and the school's own strategic priorities, and found little, so we left those out rather than guess. No parent-relevant district-level changes were confirmed in recent reporting either.
The surrounding community shapes what life is like for families here. Burton has no traditional walkable downtown. Civic life clusters on a municipal campus along South Center Road, where City Hall, the police administration building, the Department of Public Works, and the Veterans Memorial sit together. The city's parks are its strongest public assets. Kelly Lake Park offers a lake, nature trails, and a bike path. For-Mar Nature Preserve and Arboretum provides environmental education through its DeWaters Education Center. Settlement Park runs along Thread Creek for fishing and picnicking, and the city has two golf courses and a year-round indoor ice arena. The built environment is car-dependent suburban, with commute times typical of a bedroom community outside Flint.
Housing in the school's zip code is affordable compared with both the state and national benchmarks, with typical home values well below the Michigan median and far below the national figure. Recent year-over-year appreciation has been solid, so values are rising from a low base. This is a market where homeownership is within reach for many families, though the area's population has been drifting downward slowly over the past decade and change. A recent shift to Karegnondi Water Authority supply signals some infrastructure investment, but no major new residential developments surfaced in available sources.
For a family considering Burton Glen, the school offers a small, community-scale K-through-8 charter option with a high-poverty, predominantly Black student body and some genuinely strong early-grade math and eighth-grade ELA outcomes. The weaker middle-grade math and science results are worth probing. The surrounding area is affordable, suburban, and car-oriented, with decent parks and civic amenities but limited walkability and a slowly declining population.
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