The top reported proficiency rate is 24% in English language arts. The lowest is 17% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Ferndale Lower Elementary Campus
Ferndale Lower Elementary Campus sits in Ferndale, an inner-ring suburb of Detroit roughly ten miles northwest of downtown along the Woodward Corridor. The school is part of Ferndale Public Schools and serves the earliest grades, kindergarten through third. Ferndale itself is a residential community with a revitalized downtown centered on Nine Mile Road and Woodward Avenue, a stretch that was narrowed and reworked years ago to prioritize pedestrians, on-street parking, and bicycle lanes. The city has become known publicly as a hub of the LGBTQ+ community in Metro Detroit and a center of progressive politics, with civic anchors that include an LGBT community center downtown, an active Downtown Development Authority, city parks, and a library the city describes as award-winning. A portion of Ferndale is also zoned to Hazel Park Schools, so families should confirm which district and campus their address falls under.
The school's enrollment is moderate for an early-elementary building. Its student body is diverse, with a white majority and a substantial Black population, along with smaller Hispanic, multiracial, Asian, and American Indian enrollments. About half of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Data on English learners and special-education enrollment was not available, so those profiles remain unknown here.
Academic results are limited and dated. The only state assessment data on file comes from the M-STEP administered in the early part of the prior decade, covering third grade only. In that year, proficiency in both math and English language arts was low, with more students scoring below proficient than above. Participation was strong. No multi-year trend data was available, so there is no way to tell from this source whether those results have shifted over time. When placed against other districts in Oakland County, the school's overall proficiency index sits below the midpoint. A parent may want to ask the school for more current assessment results, since the figures here predate the district's recent restructuring by several years.
That restructuring is relevant context. Publicly reported information indicates Ferndale Public Schools reorganized its elementary configuration recently, with a lower elementary school opening in the fall of the current school year on the site of a former elementary and alternative-studies building in Oak Park. The campus profiled here lists a Pinecrest Drive address in Ferndale and a kindergarten-through-third grade band, though third-grade enrollment currently shows as zero, which suggests the grade configuration may still be settling after the reorganization. Families considering this school would do well to confirm directly which grades are housed at which campus and how the restructuring affects enrollment boundaries.
Because this is an early-elementary building, there is no graduation rate to report, and the school does not sit within the state's graduation-rate accountability framework. Chronic absenteeism data was not available. Discipline, course access, staffing, and attendance figures were also absent from the data provided, so those dimensions of school climate cannot be characterized here.
On housing, Ferndale sits below both the state and national benchmarks for home values, making it relatively accessible for ownership compared with much of Oakland County. Rents have been rising modestly while home values have dipped slightly year over year. The broader county market is active, with a healthy supply of listings and homes moving at a moderate pace. Estimated mortgage costs run above typical rents, which may shape decisions for families weighing buying versus renting in the attendance area.
What the picture amounts to is a small early-elementary campus in a walkable, civically engaged suburb, serving a diverse and economically mixed student body, with academic data that is thin, dated, and below county midpoints. The district is in a period of structural change, and the most useful next step for any parent would be to seek current performance numbers and clarify the campus and grade configuration directly with Ferndale Public Schools.
See more original research from School Decision →