The top reported proficiency rate is 44% in Math. The lowest is 16% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Verellen Elementary School
Verellen Elementary School sits in Essexville, a small bedroom community along the Saginaw River in Bay County. The school serves second through fourth graders as part of Essexville-Hampton Public Schools, a district that draws from both Essexville and the surrounding Hampton Township. It is a regular public school with no charter or magnet designation.
The community around Verellen is quiet and residential. Most homes are owner-occupied, and the built environment is low-scale, with limited street life. The Woodside Avenue corridor serves as the main commercial spine, anchored by small convenience and specialty shops, with City Hall nearby. The Saginaw River waterfront is used for bulk storage of petroleum products, cement, stone, and agricultural goods, but no major employers are headquartered in Essexville itself. Residents commute to jobs across the broader Saginaw-Bay City-Midland region. The city's population has been slowly declining for decades, and its small geographic footprint leaves little room for large-scale development. Publicly reported research notes that Hampton Square Mall, once a commercial anchor just outside Essexville in Hampton Township, has closed. Recreational anchors include the Essexville-Hampton Riverwalk Pier and Defoe Park. No fixed-route transit system or standalone public library branch was identified in available sources. Housing in the area is relatively affordable compared with state and national benchmarks, with typical home values well below both. The price-to-income ratio sits below national norms, and estimated monthly mortgage costs are modest for the region, though current mortgage rates remain elevated relative to recent history.
Academically, Verellen's state assessment results from the current school year show a mixed picture. Third graders performed better in math, with a majority reaching proficiency, while fourth graders fell to roughly a third proficient. In English language arts, both grade levels landed in the lower-to-mid range, with about a third of students meeting proficiency benchmarks. A science result was available only from an earlier testing cycle, showing a low proficiency rate, but that figure dates back several years and may not reflect current instruction. When Verellen's overall proficiency is compared with districts across Bay County, the school sits below the midpoint. The range among county districts is fairly narrow, and Verellen lands closer to the lower end. A parent may want to ask the school how it supports students who are approaching but not yet reaching proficiency, particularly as they transition from third to fourth grade.
The student body is predominantly white, with a small Hispanic population and a smaller group of students identifying as two or more races. Representation from other racial and ethnic categories is minimal. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the working-class character of the community. Data on students with individualized education programs and English learners was not available, so those populations cannot be characterized here. Information on staffing, discipline, attendance, chronic absenteeism, and course access was also not available.
Because Verellen serves only second through fourth grades, several common metrics do not apply. There is no graduation rate, no high school course offerings, and no college or career pathway data. The school's role is foundational: it is the place where young children in Essexville-Hampton build early academic skills before moving on to upper elementary and secondary schools in the district. No specific program offerings were listed in the available data, so families interested in enrichment, intervention, or specialized support would need to inquire directly with the school or district.
The district brief turned up no recently reported changes with lasting impact on families, so nothing on that front can be shared. What the picture does show is a small, community-rooted elementary school in an affordable, quiet residential area, with academic results that are uneven across subjects and grades and that sit below the middle of the Bay County pack. For families already living in Essexville or Hampton Township, Verellen is the neighborhood option, and its strengths and soft spots are both visible in the testing data. A visit and a conversation with school staff would help fill in what the numbers alone cannot.
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