The top reported proficiency rate is 58% in Math. The lowest is 20% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Hawkins Elementary School
Hawkins Elementary School sits on Lee Road in Brighton, Michigan, serving kindergarten through fourth grade as one of four elementary buildings in the Brighton Area Schools district. The school draws from a community that blends residential neighborhoods with commercial corridors clustered around the I-96 and US-23 highway exits. Brighton is a small city with an older population profile and a modest growth trajectory, and its downtown has seen streetscape improvements and public art installations in recent years. The built environment is car-dependent, with retail concentrated near highway interchanges rather than in a walkable core. For a family considering Hawkins, this means a suburban setting where getting to school, to the grocery store, or to the Brighton District Library will almost certainly involve driving.
The school enrolls a sizable student body for an elementary building, with roughly comparable grade-level cohorts from kindergarten through fourth grade. The student population is predominantly white, with small Hispanic, Asian, multiracial, and Black communities making up the remainder. A modest share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, well below what you would see in many Michigan elementary schools, which reflects the relatively affluent character of the surrounding area. Information on English learners and students with individualized education programs was not available, so families needing detail on those services would want to ask the school directly.
On state assessments, Hawkins shows a mixed academic picture. Third-grade math is the clear strength, with a substantial majority of tested students reaching proficiency. That result stands out and suggests the early-grade math instruction is landing well. By fourth grade, math proficiency dips to about half of tested students. English language arts follows a similar but softer pattern, with roughly half of third graders proficient and a somewhat lower share of fourth graders clearing that bar. The school's overall proficiency index sits below the midpoint among districts in Livingston County, where peer districts span a range from lower to considerably higher. So Hawkins is not at the bottom of its county cohort, but it is in the lower half, and the dip between third and fourth grade in both subjects is a pattern a parent may want to look into further with the school.
Science results from the state assessment are available only from an older testing cycle, and grade four science is no longer assessed under Michigan's current M-STEP framework, so there is no recent science score to report. The older figure was low, but it predates the current assessment structure and should not be read as a current indicator.
Because Hawkins ends at fourth grade, there is no graduation rate, no AP or career-pathway data, and no high school course access to speak of. Those questions belong to the upper grades in Brighton Area Schools, where students move on to Scrannon or Maltby middle school and then to Brighton High School. The district operates on separated campuses across the city, so families at Hawkins can expect their children to transition to a different building for fifth grade and beyond.
Housing in the 48116 zip code carries a premium. Home values sit well above both the state and national benchmarks, and estimated monthly mortgage costs are substantial at current interest rates. Rents are also elevated, though the rent-to-income ratio is more moderate than the price-to-income ratio, which suggests renting may be comparatively more accessible than buying for new families moving into the area. Brighton's housing market has seen modest year-over-year appreciation, and the city is growing slowly with projected continued growth. The average household size has been shrinking, consistent with the city's older demographic and relatively few households with children under eighteen.
What this adds up to is a well-resourced suburban elementary school in a community where housing costs are high and the population skews toward older residents and smaller households. Hawkins delivers strong third-grade math results, but its fourth-grade outcomes in both math and reading are more middling, and its overall proficiency stands in the lower half of Livingston County districts. For families already established in Brighton, the school feeds into a broader district system with separated campuses and a full secondary pathway. For families weighing a move into the attendance area, the housing premium is real, and a conversation with the school about fourth-grade academic support and enrichment would be a reasonable next step.
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