The top reported proficiency rate is 52% in Science. The lowest is 35% in Social studies.
Original Research by School Decision on Akronfairgrove Elem School
AkronFairgrove Elementary sits in the village of Akron, a very small rural community in Tuscola County, Michigan. The village straddles the line between Akron Township and Fairgrove Township, roughly twenty-five miles east of Bay City and a short drive from Saginaw. It began as a railroad stop in the late nineteenth century and retains that low-density, rural-residential character today. The population has been drifting downward slightly over recent years, and there is no evidence of major new housing development or growth initiatives. For a family considering this school, the setting is quiet, small, and agricultural, with limited local commerce and civic infrastructure beyond the basics.
The school serves pre-kindergarten through fifth grade as a regular public school in the Akron-Fairgrove Schools district. It is neither a charter nor a magnet. The enrollment is small, consistent with what you would expect for a village of this size, and the student body is nearly entirely white, with a small number of Hispanic students and a very small number of students identifying as two or more races or Black. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the modest economic profile of the surrounding community. Data on English learners and students with individualized education programs was not reported, so those populations cannot be characterized here. The village's median home values in the school's ZIP code area are well below both the state and national benchmarks, and the price-to-income ratio sits below the national level, which means housing is relatively attainable for working families in the area. Current mortgage rates hover in the mid-six-percent range, which affects affordability but does not erase the area's cost advantage over much of Michigan.
On state assessments through the M-STEP, the school's results vary considerably by grade and subject. Fourth grade stands out as a relative bright spot, with a majority of students reaching proficiency in both math and English language arts, and the English language arts result for that grade is particularly strong. Fifth grade science also shows a majority of tested students at or above proficient. Third grade results in both math and English language arts are softer, and fifth grade social studies is on the lower side as well. The variation from grade to grade is common in small schools where each cohort is only a couple of dozen students, so a single year's results can swing with the composition of the class. Looking across all tested subjects and grades, the school's overall proficiency index lands in the top quartile relative to districts in Tuscola County, which is a solid standing for a small rural elementary.
That said, participation rate data was not available, and the state's cut scores for social studies underwent a change, which means trend comparisons across years are not reliably computed here. We looked for multi-year academic trend data and found none available, so it is not possible to say whether these results represent improvement, decline, or stability over time. A parent may want to ask the school directly about how cohorts have performed as they move through the grades.
Because this is an elementary school, there is no graduation rate to report, and that metric simply does not apply. Chronic absenteeism data was also missing. No information was available on program offerings, staffing ratios, discipline, course access, or attendance patterns, so those dimensions cannot be described. The district brief turned up little in the way of recently reported changes that would affect families, so there is nothing to flag on that front either.
What the picture does show is a small, rural elementary school serving a close-knit, predominantly white, lower-income community, with state test results that run from middling to strong depending on the grade and subject. Its standing among Tuscola County districts on overall proficiency is toward the top. For families drawn to a quiet village setting with affordable housing and a small-school environment, this is a reasonable starting point, with the caveat that several data gaps mean a visit and direct conversation with the school would help fill in what the publicly reported numbers do not cover.
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