Great Oaks Academy, Warren MI - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Great Oaks Academy

Great Oaks Academy is a charter school serving kindergarten through eighth grade in Warren, Michigan. It sits on Bart Avenue in the heart of a large, auto-oriented inner-ring suburb of Detroit. The school is managed by National Heritage Academies and authorized by Bay Mills Community College, according to publicly reported information. As a K-through-8 school, it has no graduation rate, and that gap reflects the grade band rather than any missing outcome.

The student body is sizable for a single-building charter. Enrollment is distributed fairly evenly across the nine grade levels. The school serves a predominantly Black student population, with a smaller share of students identifying as two or more races and a modest number of Asian, Hispanic, and white students. An overwhelming majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which places the school among the higher-need populations in Macomb County. Data on English learners and special-education enrollment was not reported, so those figures cannot be characterized here.

State assessment results from the most recent school year paint a mixed picture. In English language arts, proficiency strengthens as students move up the grades. Third-grade ELA proficiency is below a third of tested students, but by seventh grade a majority are proficient, and eighth-grade ELA proficiency on the PSAT reaches a strong level with roughly seven in ten students meeting the bar. That upward trajectory through the upper grades is a clear bright spot. Math tells a different story. Third-grade math proficiency starts at a moderate level, but it dips in fourth and fifth grades, rebounds somewhat in sixth, and then falls again in seventh and eighth. By eighth grade, under a quarter of tested students are proficient in math. Science results land in between, with eighth-grade science notably stronger than fifth-grade. Social studies follows a similar pattern, with fifth-grade proficiency quite low and eighth-grade results much stronger.

Against its comparison set, which the data labels as districts in Macomb County, Great Oaks Academy's overall proficiency index sits just above the midpoint. The index averages proficiency across all tested subjects and grades, so the strong upper-grade ELA and science results help offset weaker math performance. Among the roughly three dozen districts in the county with comparable data, this places the school in the upper half but well short of the top.

Warren itself is Michigan's third-largest city and the largest community in Macomb County. It grew explosively in the mid-twentieth century, driven by the postwar boom and the expansion of the auto industry, and has been gradually losing population since its peak. The city is sprawling and car-dependent, organized around wide arterial roads like Van Dyke Avenue and Mound Road, with no traditional walkable downtown. Its economy is anchored by major employers including the General Motors Technical Center, the U.S. Army Detroit Arsenal, and Stellantis facilities. Housing in the school's zip code is quite affordable relative to both state and national benchmarks, with home values well below the Michigan median and rents similarly modest. For families considering the area, this means lower housing costs in a mature suburban setting, though the housing stock is aging and the community is not seeing new construction booms.

The school's setting in this working-class, industrial suburb shapes the broader context. Warren's civic life centers on the Warren Civic Center rather than a traditional downtown, and public transit is limited to commuter-oriented bus service. Schools across the city sit on separated campuses spread through its large footprint, and Great Oaks Academy operates as one of several public charter options in an area served by multiple traditional districts.

A parent weighing Great Oaks Academy would find a school with genuine academic momentum in reading and language arts, particularly in the upper elementary and middle grades. Math is the area where results are weakest, and a parent may want to look into this further with the school, especially for students in the fourth, fifth, and eighth grades where proficiency is lowest. Social studies in fifth grade is another soft spot. The school's strength in ELA through eighth grade suggests that students who stay through the full K-through-8 progression are building real literacy skills. No multi-year trend data was available, so it is not possible to say whether these results represent improvement or decline from prior years. The district brief turned up no recent parent-relevant changes such as curriculum shifts or program additions, so there is little to report on that front.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 342%

School 42% · District 42%

even with state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Grade 427%

School 27% · District 27%

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

Grade 519%

School 19% · District 19%

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

Grade 637%

School 37% · District 37%

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

Grade 723%

School 23% · District 23%

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Grade 823%

School 23% · District 23%

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 329%

School 29% · District 29%

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

Grade 437%

School 37% · District 37%

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Grade 535%

School 35% · District 35%

▼ 7 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Grade 644%

School 44% · District 44%

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 757%

School 57% · District 57%

▲ 23 pts above state median · ▲ 21 pts above county median

Grade 870%

School 70% · District 70%

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

Science

Grade 529%

School 29% · District 29%

▼ 10 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Grade 848%

School 48% · District 48%

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▲ 11 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 511%

School 11% · District 11%

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

Grade 848%

School 48% · District 48%

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

This schoolGreat Oaks 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 5Lower-income35%Higher-income40%5 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 5Lower-income17%Higher-income30%13 pp gap