The top reported proficiency rate is 12% in English language arts. The lowest is 7% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Burns Elementarymiddle School
Burns Elementary-Middle School sits on Terry Street in Detroit, serving pre-kindergarten through eighth grade as part of the Detroit Public Schools Community District. It is a regular public school, not a magnet or charter, and it draws from the surrounding neighborhood in a city where schools are distributed across residential areas rather than clustered on a single campus. The enrollment is modest for a school spanning that many grades, with roughly even distribution across grade levels from kindergarten onward.
The student body is almost entirely Black, with only a handful of students from other racial backgrounds. A very large share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which reflects the economic conditions of the surrounding neighborhood. The school does not report data on English learners or students with individualized education programs, so those populations cannot be characterized here.
On state assessments, Burns shows proficiency rates that are consistently low across every tested subject and grade. In math, third and seventh graders each had only a small handful of students reach proficiency, and the remaining grades fell into the lowest reported range with zero or near-zero proficient students. English language arts results were somewhat higher but still low, with most grades in the single digits and eighth grade reaching the highest level among all tested grades. Science and social studies proficiency followed a similar pattern. When compared to other schools and districts in Wayne County, Burns sits in the bottom quartile for overall proficiency. This is a clear academic soft spot, and a parent may want to look into how the school and district are addressing instructional support and intervention. No trend data over multiple years was available, so it is not possible to say whether these results are improving, declining, or holding steady.
The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report. Chronic absenteeism data was also not available. Participation rates for the state assessments were missing as well, which means the proficiency picture, while clearly low, may not fully capture every enrolled student.
Detroit itself is a major urban center, historically anchored by the American automotive industry, with the Big Three automakers maintaining a strong presence across the metro region. The city has experienced decades of population loss and disinvestment but has seen two consecutive years of population growth as of recently, driven partly by immigration and new housing development concentrated in areas like Midtown, Corktown, and the East Riverfront. Major civic and cultural institutions, including the Detroit Institute of Arts, the main public library branch, and the Riverwalk, cluster in and near downtown and Midtown, creating a civic core that is separate from many neighborhood schools. Walkability varies sharply by neighborhood; the area around Burns, in the outer residential stretches of the city, tends to be more car-dependent than the downtown core.
The housing market near the school is very affordable compared with both state and national benchmarks. Typical home values in the surrounding zip code sit well below the state median and far below the national median, and rents are also low relative to broader markets. Wayne County as a whole has seen a modest increase in active listings and a slight softening of median listing prices recently, with homes typically spending about six weeks on the market. For families, this means homeownership near the school is financially accessible, though the low price point also reflects the economic challenges of the surrounding community.
The Detroit Public Schools Community District has publicly reported a multi-year facilities improvement plan aimed at renovating and modernizing school buildings across the district, funded through capital projects and grants. For a family considering Burns, this could mean building improvements in coming years, though it may also bring disruptions during renovation periods. No specific program offerings, extracurricular activities, or staffing details were available for Burns, so those aspects of the school environment cannot be described here.
What the data does show is a neighborhood school serving a high-poverty student body in a city working through a long arc of revitalization, with state assessment results that indicate real academic challenges. A family evaluating Burns would want to ask the school directly about its instructional approach, support services, and how the district's facilities plan will affect this building.
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