The top reported proficiency rate is 31% in Social studies. The lowest is 8% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Lee Middle School
Lee Middle School sits in Wyoming, Michigan, a suburb of Grand Rapids that grew in an unusual pattern. Rather than expanding outward from a central core, Wyoming developed along corridors, with its de facto downtown running along a busy stretch of 28th Street lined with retail and commercial properties. The city carries West Michigan's third-largest industrial tax base, a legacy tied in part to a former General Motors stamping plant that has since closed. Metro Health Hospital anchors employment in the southwest. The city has been working on two major redevelopment efforts since the mid-2010s: revitalizing the 28th Street corridor through a project called 28 West, and repurposing the former GM plant site, now known as Site 36. Buck Creek winds through the city, and twenty-one parks spread across the landscape. Getting around is car-dependent; the built environment is suburban and auto-oriented, with three freeways cutting through and no traditional walkable downtown grid.
Lee Middle School serves grades six through eight as a regular public school in the Godfrey-Lee Public Schools district. The enrollment is moderate for a middle school. The student body is predominantly Hispanic, with smaller Black, white, and multiracial populations. Nearly all students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which places this school among the highest-poverty buildings in the region. Data on English learners and special education counts was not available, so those pieces of the student profile remain incomplete. A parent may want to ask the school directly about those populations and the supports attached to them.
State assessment results from the most recent school year tell a mixed and in places difficult story. In math, proficiency is low across all three grades, with the share of students meeting or exceeding state standards sitting in the single digits to low teens. English language arts shows a wider spread. Sixth and seventh grade proficiency is modest, but eighth grade ELA results stand out as a clear bright spot, with a majority of tested students reaching proficiency on the PSAT. That eighth grade result is the school's strongest single performance signal. Science and social studies, both tested only in eighth grade, land in the middle range, with roughly a quarter to a third of students proficient. Participation rates were not reported, so it is hard to confirm how fully the tested population represents the enrolled student body.
When positioned against other districts in Kent County, Lee Middle School's overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades falls in the bottom quartile. The county's median proficiency sits well above this school's level. That gap is a fact a family should weigh honestly, and it likely reflects the concentration of poverty in this building rather than any single programmatic failure. A parent may want to look into how the school is responding, what intervention systems are in place, and how the strong eighth grade ELA result is being built on.
The Godfrey-Lee district recently completed a bond-funded renovation and expansion at Lee High School, finished in fall 2023. That investment signals the district is putting resources into its facilities, though the benefits flow primarily to the high school that Lee Middle School students will eventually attend.
Housing in the school's ZIP code is relatively affordable compared with Kent County as a whole. Typical home values sit near the state benchmark and well below the county's median listing price. Rents are moderate. The estimated monthly mortgage cost is modestly higher than typical rent, which means buying is within reach for some families but not dramatically cheaper than leasing. Homes in the area sell at a measured pace, with supply outpacing demand based on available market scores.
What families get at Lee Middle School is a small, high-poverty, predominantly Hispanic middle school in a working-class suburb with affordable housing and strong freeway access. The academic results are uneven, with math a clear area of concern and eighth grade ELA a genuine strength. Families considering this school should ask direct questions about academic interventions, staffing stability, and how the school supports students who arrive below grade level.
See more original research from School Decision →