The top reported proficiency rate is 10% in English language arts. The lowest is 4% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Fisher Magnet Upper Academy
Fisher Magnet Upper Academy was a regular public school in the Detroit Public Schools Community District, located on Maddelein Street on Detroit's east side. The most important fact for any family reading this: the school is closed. It no longer operates, so the information here is a historical record rather than a guide to enrollment.
The school served upper elementary and middle grades, and the available state assessment data comes from a single school year. In math, proficiency was extremely low across every grade tested, with the state reporting so few proficient students that the result fell into the lowest reporting band. No grade had more than a handful of students reaching proficiency. English language arts results were somewhat less stark but still very low, with the uppermost grade showing the strongest relative performance and the lower grades near the bottom of the scale. Science and social studies followed a similar pattern, with proficiency in the lowest reported range or just above it. Average scale scores were reported across subjects and grades, but participation rate data was missing, so it is hard to assess how completely the student body was represented in these results. No multi-year trend data was available, so there is no way to see whether performance was improving or declining before the school closed.
Enrollment counts, demographic breakdowns, free-or-reduced-price-lunch figures, special education and English learner rates, staffing data, course access information, discipline records, and attendance figures were all missing from the available data. Without these, it is difficult to characterize the peer environment or the level of student support the school provided. We can say from the assessment data that the tested cohorts were small, consistent with a modest-sized school for its grade band. No comparison fact-set was provided to position Fisher among other Detroit schools or Wayne County districts.
The surrounding community context is drawn from the city of Detroit rather than the immediate neighborhood. Detroit is a major urban center, historically anchored by the domestic auto industry, with General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis all maintaining a major presence in the metro area. The city has experienced decades of population decline and disinvestment in many neighborhoods, though publicly reported census estimates indicate modest population growth in recent years, attributed in part to immigration and new housing development. Revitalization has been concentrated in areas like downtown, Midtown, Corktown, and the East Riverfront, with projects including the Hudson's site development and riverfront expansion. Neighborhoods farther from the core, including much of the east side where Fisher was located, have generally seen less of that investment.
The housing market reflects this divide. The zip code area around the school shows home values far below both the state and national benchmarks, and those values have been declining. Wayne County as a whole has a larger and somewhat stronger market, with median listing prices well below state and national levels but more active. Rental costs in the immediate area are modest relative to income. Affordability for buyers is favorable on paper given low prices, but declining values and the broader economic context of the neighborhood complicate that picture.
The Detroit Public Schools Community District, Fisher's parent district, has publicly reported a multi-year facilities improvement plan aimed at renovating and modernizing school buildings across the city, funded through capital projects and grants. Whether Fisher was part of that planning before its closure is not indicated in the available data.
For a parent or resident, the takeaway is straightforward. Fisher Magnet Upper Academy is no longer open. Its last available academic results showed very low proficiency across subjects and grades, though the absence of demographic, enrollment, and trend data limits what can be concluded about the school's full context. Anyone interested in what replaced it or what options exist nearby would need to look to other Detroit Public Schools Community District campuses currently in operation.
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