The top reported proficiency rate is 17% in English language arts. The lowest is 11% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Riverside Academy
Riverside Academy is a charter elementary school in Dearborn, Michigan, serving kindergarten through fifth grade. It sits on Miller Road in a city that is a dense inner-ring suburb of Detroit, shaped by decades of automotive industry and Arab American immigration. Dearborn is home to Ford Motor Company's world headquarters, and its Warren Avenue corridor is lined with Arab American-owned restaurants, markets, and shops. The city describes itself as having one of the few growing populations in Michigan, with a young demographic profile. Riverside Academy is its own charter district rather than part of Dearborn Public Schools, and no recent district-level changes such as referendums, curriculum overhauls, or property-tax shifts were found in the available search results.
The school enrolls a modest student body for a single-building elementary charter, with roughly even distribution across the six grade levels. Every student qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, which places the school in the category of serving an entirely economically disadvantaged population. The student body is predominantly white, with a smaller share of Black students and very small numbers of Asian, Hispanic, multiracial, and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander students. Data on English learners and students with individualized education programs was not reported, so those populations cannot be characterized here.
On Michigan's M-STEP assessments for the most recent school year, Riverside Academy's proficiency rates were low across every tested subject and grade. In math, the share of students scoring proficient or above was below a quarter in third grade, fell further in fourth grade, and dropped to roughly one in ten by fifth grade. English language arts followed a similar pattern, with proficiency rates in the upper teens for third and fourth grade and lower for fifth grade. Fifth-grade science saw roughly one in ten students proficient. Fifth-grade social studies had no students scoring proficient or above, landing in the lowest reported range. When the school is placed against districts in Wayne County using an overall proficiency index that averages tested subjects and grades, Riverside Academy sits in the bottom quartile. 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 performing below grade level.
Because Riverside Academy serves only elementary grades, it has no graduation rate, and that absence reflects the grade band rather than a missing result. Chronic absenteeism data was also not available. No information on program offerings, course access, staffing ratios, discipline, or attendance was provided, so those dimensions cannot be assessed. Participation rates for the state assessments were missing across all tested grades.
Dearborn's housing market is relatively affordable compared with both state and national benchmarks. Typical home values in the school's zip code sit below the Michigan state benchmark and well below the national one, and rents have risen sharply over the past year. Mortgage rates remain elevated nationally, and the unemployment rate has held steady in the low fours. The city itself offers a substantial park system, free pool access for young children, the Henry Ford museum complex, the Arab American National Museum, and both a University of Michigan campus and Henry Ford College as nearby educational anchors. Dearborn Public Schools advertises a free K through 14 pathway allowing students to earn an associate degree at no cost, though that program belongs to the traditional district and not to Riverside Academy's charter.
For a family considering Riverside Academy, the picture is straightforward. It is a small charter elementary serving an entirely low-income population in a culturally rich and growing city, with state assessment results that are low and in some areas very low. The absence of program data, staffing data, and absenteeism data means a parent would need to contact the school directly to understand what instruction looks like day to day and what interventions are in place for struggling students. The Dearborn setting itself offers a distinctive community context, but the academic data available for this school is the factor most likely to shape a family's decision.
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