Burton International Academy, Detroit MI

Original Research by School Decision on Burton International Academy

Burton International Academy sits on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Detroit, serving students from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade as part of the Detroit Public Schools Community District. It is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet, and its enrollment is modest for a school spanning so many grade levels, with roughly even class sizes from kindergarten through eighth grade. The student body is almost entirely Black, and a very large share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The school does not report IEP or English-learner counts, so those portions of the picture are missing here.

On state assessments, Burton's results are uniformly low. Math proficiency across grades three through eight rarely reaches even a fifth of tested students, and in fifth and sixth grade the reported proficient count was zero, placing those rates in the lowest reporting band. ELA tells a somewhat better story, with eighth grade reaching roughly three in ten proficient and fourth grade close behind, though middle grades generally sit lower. Science and social studies results hover near a fifth of students proficient in fifth grade, with eighth-grade social studies standing out as the strongest single result at about a third of tested students reaching proficiency. Taken together, Burton's overall proficiency index lands below the midpoint among schools and districts in Wayne County. A parent evaluating this school would want to look into the academic program and supports directly with the school, since these results suggest many students are not yet meeting state benchmarks.

The school's pre-kindergarten enrollment is reported as zero despite the grade being listed as served, which may reflect how the program is structured or funded. No data on course access, staffing ratios, discipline, attendance, or chronic absenteeism was available, so those dimensions cannot be characterized here. Detroit Public Schools Community District has announced a multi-year facilities improvement plan to renovate and modernize school buildings, which could mean construction activity or temporary disruptions at some campuses, though the specific impact on Burton is not detailed in the available information.

The surrounding community is Detroit itself, a major urban center and the historic heart of the American automotive industry. The Big Three automakers, General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis, remain anchored in Metro Detroit, alongside major employers like Henry Ford Health, the Detroit Medical Center, and Rocket Mortgage. The city has seen two consecutive years of population growth as of 2025, driven partly by immigration and new housing development, after decades of decline. Revitalization has concentrated downtown and in Midtown, with the Detroit Riverwalk, restored historic theaters, and large projects like the Hudson's site skyscraper and the Gordie Howe International Bridge. Walkability varies sharply by neighborhood, and while downtown and Midtown offer transit and street life, outer areas remain car-dependent.

The housing market around Burton's zip code is very affordable compared with state and national benchmarks. Home values are well below the statewide median, and rents are similarly modest. Wayne County's broader market shows a cooling trend, with median listing prices down modestly year over year and homes sitting on the market longer than in the recent past. Inventory has grown, giving buyers more options. For a family considering this area, housing costs would not be a barrier, though the academic outcomes at Burton suggest a parent should ask hard questions about instruction, intervention, and growth before enrolling.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 319%

School 19% · District 16% · ▲ 3 pts above district

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

Grade 421%

School 21% · District 13% · ▲ 8 pts above district

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

Grade 713%

School 13% · District 13%

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

Grade 814%

School 14% · District 10% · ▲ 4 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 319%

School 19% · District 13% · ▲ 6 pts above district

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

Grade 430%

School 30% · District 15% · ▲ 15 pts above district

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

Grade 520%

School 20% · District 17% · ▲ 3 pts above district

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

Grade 614%

School 14% · District 17% · ▼ 3 pts below district

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

Grade 715%

School 15% · District 16% · ▼ 1 pts below district

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

Grade 830%

School 30% · District 31%

▼ 32 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Science

Grade 520%

School 20% · District 13% · ▲ 7 pts above district

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

Grade 820%

School 20% · District 17% · ▲ 3 pts above district

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

Social studies

Grade 516%

School 16% · District 10% · ▲ 6 pts above district

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

Grade 832%

School 32% · District 21% · ▲ 11 pts above district

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

This schoolDetroit Public Schools Community District, 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.