The top reported proficiency rate is 45% in Math. The lowest is 13% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Roscommon Elementary School
Roscommon Elementary School sits in the village of Roscommon, the county seat of Roscommon County in north-central Michigan. It is a regular public school serving pre-kindergarten through fourth grade, part of Roscommon Area Public Schools. The campus sits just west of the village center in Gerrish Township, separated from the downtown core where county offices, Village Hall, and small businesses line Lake Street along M-18.
The village is small and compact, with the South Branch of the Au Sable River running through it. Tourism tied to the river and nearby Higgins Lake has long shaped the local economy, and canoe liveries have historically operated along the water. Three state parks sit within close proximity. The median age here is well above the state median, reflecting an older population with substantial retirement income. Educational services, health care, and social assistance are the largest employment sectors, followed by retail trade, manufacturing, and construction. As county seat, government offices are steady employers. The community has seen a slight population decline, and the school district's enrollment has fallen steadily over the past decade. A 2025 Master Plan aims to manage land use and preserve community character amid that trajectory. No major new housing developments were identified in publicly reported sources.
The school itself serves a modest enrollment for its grade band. The student body is nearly entirely white, with only a handful of students from other racial or ethnic backgrounds. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which gives a sense of the economic context many families are working within. Data on special education enrollment and English learner status was not available, so those profiles remain unclear from what was provided.
On state assessments, the most recent results come from the 2024-25 M-STEP. Third-grade math proficiency was above the midpoint, with a slight majority of tested students reaching proficiency. Fourth-grade math proficiency dropped to a lower level, with fewer than two in five demonstrating proficiency. English language arts results were weaker across both tested grades, with roughly a quarter of third graders and about a third of fourth graders proficient. Put together, the school's overall proficiency index sits above the midpoint among districts in Roscommon County. The math results in third grade are the strongest signal in the data; the ELA results and fourth-grade math are softer, and a parent may want to look into how the school supports literacy growth and the transition between grades.
Science and social studies results appear in the data but come from the 2014-15 school year, and the assessment underwent name and cut-score changes at that time, so those figures are not comparable to current results and do not tell a parent much about the school today. Trend data across years was not available, so there is no clear picture of whether proficiency is improving or declining over time. Participation rates were also missing from the reported data.
Because the school stops at fourth grade, there is no graduation rate, and that metric does not apply here. Chronic absenteeism data was not reported. Information on discipline, course access, staffing ratios, and attendance was absent from the available data, so those dimensions of school climate cannot be described from what was provided. No program offerings were listed, so parents would need to ask the school directly about what is available beyond core instruction.
Housing in the area is affordable relative to both state and national benchmarks. Typical home values sit well below the statewide level and roughly half the national figure, which lines up with the broader economic picture of a small, aging village where retirement income plays a large role. The price-to-income ratio is modest by national standards. Rental data was not available.
The district brief turned up no parent-relevant changes from recent board actions or policy shifts that met a lasting-impact threshold, so there is little to report on that front.
What the picture amounts to is a small early-elementary school in a rural, tourism-oriented county seat with an aging population and declining enrollment. Its academic results are mixed: third-grade math stands out as a relative strength, while ELA proficiency is low and fourth-grade math slips. Families considering this school would benefit from asking directly about literacy support, what happens as students move into the upper elementary grades, and how the district plans to manage its declining enrollment in ways that preserve programming for the youngest students.
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