The top reported proficiency rate is 25% in English language arts. The lowest is 13% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Concord Elementary School
Concord Elementary School sits on South Main Street in the village of Concord, a small Jackson County community that functions as a bedroom town for the greater Jackson area about fifteen miles east. The village has a compact historic core of Victorian-era homes and two-story red brick commercial buildings along its downtown, part of the Concord Village Historic District. Publicly reported sources describe a car-dependent community where most residents drive alone to work, with limited street life outside the downtown area. Manufacturing is the largest employment sector locally, followed by accommodation and food services and educational services. The village has seen a slight population decline in recent years, with projections suggesting that trend continues. No major new housing or commercial development projects were identified.
The school serves kindergarten through fifth grade with a total enrollment in the low three hundreds. Grade-level enrollment is fairly even across the building, with kindergarten being the largest cohort. The student body is predominantly white, with small representations of Black, Hispanic, and multiracial students. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the working-class character of the community. Data on English learners and students with individualized education programs was not reported, so those population sizes are unknown here.
On Michigan's M-STEP assessments for the most recent school year, proficiency rates at Concord Elementary were low across nearly every tested grade and subject. Third-grade math proficiency was the highest math result, with roughly a quarter of tested students reaching proficiency. Fourth- and fifth-grade math proficiency dropped sharply, with only a small fraction of students clearing the bar. English language arts results were somewhat stronger, particularly in fourth grade, where nearly a third of students were proficient, but third- and fifth-grade ELA proficiency settled around a quarter or less. Science proficiency among fifth graders landed at about a quarter, and social studies proficiency for the same grade was roughly a fifth. When placed against districts in Jackson County, Concord Elementary's overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades falls in the bottom quartile. Participation rates for state testing were not reported, so it is not possible to assess whether low participation affected these results. Trend data comparing this year to prior years was not available either, so there is no way to tell from the provided data whether these numbers represent a decline or a longer-standing pattern. A parent may want to look into this further with the school, particularly how the building supports students performing below grade level in math as they advance from third through fifth grade.
Because the school ends at fifth grade, there is no graduation rate to report. The school is a regular public school within Concord Community Schools, not a charter or magnet. Title I status was not reported. Information on staffing ratios, course offerings, discipline data, attendance, and chronic absenteeism was not available, so we left those out rather than guess. The district brief did not surface any parent-relevant changes of lasting impact.
Housing in the 49237 zip code is modest relative to state and national benchmarks, with a typical home value below the Michigan statewide figure and well below the national one. Estimated monthly mortgage costs exceed estimated rent by a modest margin, and the price-to-income ratio sits below three, which suggests that buying a home in the attendance zone is relatively attainable compared to many parts of the country. The affordability picture is consistent with what one would expect in a small historic village with a commuter orientation and a working-class employment base.
For a family considering Concord Elementary, the picture that emerges is a small-town school in an affordable, historically rooted community, with class sizes that feel manageable and a peer group that reflects the village's working-class makeup. The academic results, though, are a concern on their face, particularly in math in the upper elementary grades. A parent evaluating this school would benefit from asking how instruction is structured in those critical years, what intervention supports exist for students below grade level, and what the building's improvement priorities are going forward. The community itself offers quiet, small-town living with a walkable historic core, easy access to larger employment centers, and housing costs that compare favorably to much of the state, but the academic data is the part a family would want to examine most closely before deciding.
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