The top reported proficiency rate is 19% in English language arts. The lowest is 6% in Social studies.
Original Research by School Decision on Macgregor Elementary School
MacGregor Elementary School sits on Fremont Street in Bay City, serving pre-kindergarten through fifth grade as part of Bay City School District. It is a regular public school, neither a charter nor a magnet, drawing from a community where nearly every student comes from a household qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. The student body is mostly white, with a sizable Hispanic population and a smaller group identifying as two or more races. A few students are Black, and one is American Indian. The school does not report figures for special education or English learner services, so families relying on those supports will want to ask the school directly about what is available.
On state assessments, the most recent M-STEP results place MacGregor in the bottom quartile among districts in Bay County for overall proficiency. The picture is consistent across grades and subjects, though English language arts fares somewhat better than math. In third and fifth grade math, proficiency falls in the lowest reported band, with essentially no students reaching the proficient threshold. Fourth grade math is modestly higher but still well below what most county peers post. English language arts tells a slightly more encouraging story, with roughly a fifth to nearly a quarter of tested students reaching proficiency in the upper grades, though third grade remains low. Science and social studies results for fifth grade are also thin, with social studies particularly sparse. Average scale scores are reported across all tested grades, and they sit below county medians. These results, taken together, point to a school where most students are not yet meeting state grade-level expectations. A parent considering MacGregor may want to look into what academic interventions and support structures the school has in place, and how leadership is responding to these numbers.
No multi-year trend data was available, so it is not possible to say whether performance is improving, holding, or declining over time. Chronic absenteeism figures were not reported either, which matters because attendance and achievement often move together. Discipline data, course access details, and staffing information were all absent from the available records, so the portrait here is limited to enrollment, demographics, and test results.
Bay City itself is the county seat of Bay County, positioned along the Saginaw River just upriver from Saginaw Bay on Lake Huron. It was a lumber boomtown in the late nineteenth century, and the Victorian mansions from that era still line Center Avenue as registered historic landmarks. When the pine ran out, the town turned to coal mining, commercial fishing, and beet-sugar refining. Today the economy leans on tourism, agriculture, and diversified manufacturing, including power shovels, cement, auto equipment, plastics, and shipbuilding. McLaren Bay Region is the largest employer, with the school district itself among the top employers in the city. Michigan Sugar is also based here.
The river divides the city into east and west sides, connected by four bascule bridges. Two of those bridges, Independence and Liberty, were leased to a private operator in a publicly reported arrangement that brought tolls to crossings that were previously free. Residents have voiced frustration about transparency around the deal, and the tolls remain a live issue in local civic life. Street life centers on the riverfront and downtown, especially during summer festivals like River Roar, the Fireworks Festival, and the Polish Festival at St. Stan's. Wenonah Park on the east bank and Veterans Memorial Park on the west bank anchor much of that activity. Cultural institutions include the State Theatre, the Bay County Historical Museum, Studio 23, the Delta College Planetarium, and the Bay City Players, the oldest continuously running community theater in the area.
The housing market around MacGregor is affordable by any standard. Home values in the school's zip code run well below both state and national benchmarks, and rents are modest. The price-to-income ratio sits below the national level, meaning a household earning a typical income faces a lighter housing burden than in most of the country. At current mortgage rates, monthly ownership costs run somewhat above local rents, but both remain within reach for working families. Bay City's population has been declining gradually over recent census cycles, and the city has not seen major new housing development identified in available sources. The affordability and the historic character draw some families, while the population loss and industrial pockets reflect the broader economic transition underway.
For a parent weighing MacGregor, the central tension is straightforward. The community is affordable, rooted, and culturally active, with a school that serves a high-poverty population working from low proficiency levels. Whether the school's internal supports and the district's approach are enough to move those numbers is the question worth bringing directly to school leadership.
See more original research from School Decision →