Tipton Academy 48, Garden City MI

Original Research by School Decision on Tipton Academy 48

Tipton Academy is a public charter school on Florence Street in Garden City, a western suburb of Detroit. It is listed as serving grades four through twelve, though its actual enrollment runs only through eighth grade, with no students currently in the high school years. For a family looking at this school, that means it functions as a middle-grade program in practice, and a family with a high-school-age student would need to look elsewhere for those grades.

The school enrolls roughly two hundred and thirty students across fifth through eighth grade, with the largest cohorts in the lower grades. A substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The student body is diverse, with Black and white students each making up close to half the enrollment, and smaller shares of Hispanic, multiracial, and Asian students. Data on special education and English learner populations was not available, so a parent whose child receives those services would want to ask the school directly about what supports are in place.

On state assessments, the picture is mixed. Math proficiency is low across every tested grade, with the share of students scoring proficient or above sitting well below what most families would hope to see. English language arts is more uneven. The middle elementary grades show moderate proficiency, and the eighth-grade ELA result on the PSAT stands out as a clear bright spot, with a majority of tested eighth graders reaching proficiency. Science and social studies results fall between the math and ELA patterns, with eighth-grade social studies being another relative strength. Taken together, the school's overall proficiency index sits above the midpoint among Wayne County districts, which gives some context that the results, while modest, are not at the bottom of the county's range.

The school does not report a graduation rate, which makes sense given that no high school students are currently enrolled. Chronic absenteeism, discipline, staffing, and course access data were also not available. Program offerings were not provided. A parent evaluating this school would have limited information on extracurriculars, advanced coursework, or specialized programs, and may want to ask the school to fill in those gaps.

Garden City itself is an established suburban community about fifteen miles west of downtown Detroit. It was originally designed around the English garden city concept, with large lots meant to allow families to grow food, though most lots have since been subdivided into much smaller parcels. Commercial activity runs along the major roads, particularly Ford Road and Middlebelt Road, where a small downtown cluster sits at the intersection. Garden City Hospital is the city's leading employer and a steady civic anchor. The broader community has been losing population gradually over several decades, and the city has seen some commercial closures, including the original Kmart and the first Little Caesars location, both now gone. The local public school district has consolidated buildings over the years, selling or repurposing former school sites, including one that now houses the city's Parks and Recreation Department.

Housing in the school's zip code is relatively affordable compared with state and national benchmarks. Home values sit below the Michigan statewide typical, and rents are modest as well. For a family renting or buying near the school, the cost of living is lower than in many Detroit-area suburbs, though the community's long-term population decline and commercial turnover are part of the trade-off.

Tipton Academy fits a family seeking a small charter option in an affordable, established suburb, particularly for the middle grades. Its reading results in the upper grades are a genuine strength, while math is a soft spot a parent may want to look into further with the school. The missing data on special populations, programs, and school climate means a family would need to do some direct asking to get the full picture.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 417%

School 17% · District 17%

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

Grade 515%

School 15% · District 15%

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

Grade 66%

School 6% · District 6%

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

Grade 718%

School 18% · District 18%

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Grade 819%

School 19% · District 19%

▼ 8 pts below state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 426%

School 26% · District 26%

▼ 14 pts below state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Grade 529%

School 29% · District 29%

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

Grade 618%

School 18% · District 18%

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

Grade 730%

School 30% · District 30%

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 859%

School 59% · District 59%

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

Science

Grade 523%

School 23% · District 23%

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

Grade 834%

School 34% · District 34%

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 520%

School 20% · District 20%

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Grade 841%

School 41% · District 41%

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▲ 15 pts above county median

This schoolTipton 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 4Lower-income21%Higher-income46%24 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income34%Higher-income16%18 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income14%Higher-income27%12 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income27%Higher-income40%13 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 4Lower-income14%Higher-income27%13 pp gap