Detroit Achievement Academy, Detroit MI

Original Research by School Decision on Detroit Achievement Academy

Detroit Achievement Academy is a charter school serving kindergarten through eighth grade on the city's west side, along Outer Drive in the 48235 zip code. It is a small school by enrollment, with a student body that is almost entirely Black and where nearly every student qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch. The school operates as its own district under the same name, and publicly reported information indicates it has grown recently to two schools, a shift that has changed the scale of the educational experience for enrolled families.

State assessment results from the most recent year paint a mixed but instructive picture. In English language arts, the school shows a clear upward trajectory across grade levels. Third grade proficiency is very low, and fourth and fifth grades sit in a modest range, but by sixth grade the share of students meeting proficiency jumps substantially, and eighth grade stands out as a particular strength on the PSAT. The pattern suggests that students who stay at the school through the upper elementary and middle grades make marked progress in literacy. Math follows a less consistent path. Third grade proficiency is low, with improvement in fourth grade, a dip in fifth, and then a sharp rise in sixth grade before settling back to moderate levels in seventh and eighth. Science results, tested only in fifth and eighth grades, land in a modest range. Social studies is the weakest area, with fifth grade showing no students reaching proficiency and eighth grade at a moderate level. A parent weighing these results may want to look into the school's approach to early-grade instruction and social studies to understand where support is most concentrated.

When positioned against districts in Wayne County, the school's overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades places it above the midpoint, a reasonable standing given the large and varied set of districts in the county. Publicly reported state performance information for the district also indicates it exceeded standards in academic growth for both ELA and math, in academic achievement on M-STEP and PSAT, and in financial reporting for the most recent school year. These growth ratings are a meaningful data point for families, because they speak to how much students progress relative to where they start, which can matter more in a high-poverty setting than static proficiency snapshots.

Because the school stops at eighth grade, there is no graduation rate to report; that measure simply does not apply here. Individualized education program counts and English learner data were not available in the provided information, and chronic absenteeism figures were also missing. A family with specific questions about special education services or language support would need to contact the school directly.

The surrounding neighborhood sits within a housing market that is among the most affordable in the region. Home values in this zip code run far below both the Michigan and national benchmarks, and rents are modest as well. Recent home values have drifted downward slightly, while rents have edged up. For families considering a move near the school, housing costs would present little barrier relative to most of the metro area.

Detroit itself is a major urban center shaped by its automotive history and its cultural output. The city has seen two consecutive years of population growth as of recently available estimates, the first sustained increase since the middle of the last century, driven partly by immigration and new housing development. Revitalization has concentrated in areas like Midtown, Corktown, and the East Riverfront, with major projects including a mixed-use development on the former Hudson's site downtown and a new international bridge to Windsor. The school sits in a residential part of the west side, away from those active corridors, in a part of the city where the built environment reflects decades of disinvestment alongside ongoing community presence.

Detroit Achievement Academy fits a family looking for a small, tuition-free school with a nearly all-Black peer environment and a track record of academic growth that outpaces what raw proficiency numbers might suggest. The early-grade results are a soft spot worth probing, but the upper-grade ELA performance and the publicly reported growth ratings indicate that the school is moving students forward in measurable ways.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 39%

School 9% · District 32% · ▼ 23 pts below district

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

Grade 419%

School 19% · District 27% · ▼ 8 pts below district

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

Grade 512%

School 12% · District 30% · ▼ 19 pts below district

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

Grade 638%

School 38% · District 40% · ▼ 3 pts below district

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

Grade 725%

School 25% · District 44% · ▼ 18 pts below district

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

Grade 821%

School 21% · District 33% · ▼ 12 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 37%

School 7% · District 36% · ▼ 29 pts below district

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

Grade 433%

School 33% · District 40% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 7 pts below state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

Grade 527%

School 27% · District 46% · ▼ 19 pts below district

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 661%

School 61% · District 55% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 27 pts above state median · ▲ 39 pts above county median

Grade 729%

School 29% · District 53% · ▼ 24 pts below district

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

Grade 871%

School 71% · District 71%

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▲ 28 pts above county median

Science

Grade 516%

School 16% · District 35% · ▼ 19 pts below district

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

Grade 835%

School 35% · District 46% · ▼ 11 pts below district

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

Social studies

Grade 833%

School 33% · District 43% · ▼ 10 pts below district

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

This schoolDetroit Achievement 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.