The top reported proficiency rate is 69% in Science. The lowest is 56% in Social studies.
Original Research by School Decision on Clarkston Elementary School
Clarkston Elementary School sits on Waldon Road in the Clarkston Community School District, serving pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. It is a regular public school in Oakland County, drawing from a community that is unusual in Michigan: the officially named City of the Village of Clarkston is the smallest city by land area in the state, a compact half-square-mile historic mill village surrounded by Independence Township. The village grew around saw and grist mills in the 1830s, and more than a hundred historic structures are protected within the Clarkston Village Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places. The Mill Pond, a section of the Clinton River, anchors the village center. The old Ford mill building has been converted into a small complex of art galleries and offices. Main Street, also designated M-15, carries through-traffic through the village, but the grid of residential streets around it gives the core a walkable, small-town character. The broader Clarkston mailing address reaches into Independence Township, which is more car-dependent and suburban. School campuses across the district spread into the surrounding township rather than clustering in the village itself.
The school's enrollment is moderate for an elementary building in this area. Its student body is predominantly white, with a small Hispanic presence and very few students from other racial or ethnic backgrounds. A relatively small share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch compared with many Oakland County schools, which reflects the generally affluent suburban character of the surrounding community. Data on English learners and students with individualized education programs was not reported, so those populations cannot be characterized here.
On Michigan's M-STEP assessment, Clarkston Elementary's results place it in the top quartile among schools in Oakland County districts when averaging proficiency across all tested subjects and grades. Third-grade math is a particular strength, with a strong majority of students scoring proficient or above. Fifth-grade science is also a bright spot, with a solid majority proficient. Fifth-grade English language arts is comparably strong. The school's weaker results sit in fourth grade, where both math and English language arts proficiency dip below the halfway mark. Third-grade English language arts and fifth-grade math land in the middle range. Social studies proficiency for fifth graders is moderate. The fourth-grade dip is the kind of pattern a parent may want to look into further with the school, to understand whether it reflects a cohort effect, a curricular transition, or something else. No multi-year trend data was available, so it is not possible to say whether this year's results represent a shift from prior performance.
Because Clarkston Elementary serves only elementary grades, there is no graduation rate to report, and the school does not produce the kind of high-school outcome data that would appear for a secondary school. Chronic absenteeism data was not available for this school. No discipline, course-access, staffing, or attendance figures were provided.
Within the Clarkston Community School District, a recent capital improvement may matter to families looking ahead: Clarkston Junior High School, serving grades eight and nine, was rebuilt and reopened in 2025, a publicly reported modernization that affects the pathway students from this elementary will eventually enter.
The housing market around the school is part of a broader Oakland County picture that has been cooling somewhat. The typical home value in the school's zip code sits below the national benchmark but above the state benchmark, and values have been rising modestly year over year. Countywide, the median listing price has edged down recently, and days on market have lengthened slightly, suggesting buyers have a bit more room than they did a year ago. Homes here are affordable relative to the national price-to-income ratio, and estimated monthly mortgage costs run higher than typical rent, making renting a comparatively less expensive option in this area. The village itself is essentially built out, with historic district protections limiting large-scale redevelopment, so most new housing activity occurs in the surrounding township rather than within the village boundaries.
For a family considering Clarkston Elementary, the picture is of a stable, relatively affluent community school with strong overall proficiency results, particularly in early elementary math and upper-elementary science and reading. The fourth-grade results are the soft spot worth asking about. The setting is a compact historic village with a walkable core, and the broader area offers suburban amenities in Independence Township.
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