The top reported proficiency rate is 10% in English language arts. The lowest is 5% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Kent Hills Elementary
Kent Hills Elementary sits on the northeast side of Grand Rapids, serving pre-kindergarten through fifth grade as part of Grand Rapids Public Schools. It is a regular public school, not a magnet or charter, drawing from the surrounding residential neighborhoods of a city that functions as the economic and cultural hub of West Michigan. Grand Rapids carries a furniture-manufacturing legacy into a present-day economy built on healthcare, education, manufacturing, and technology. Corewell Health stands as the region's largest employer, and the Medical Mile corridor of health-science institutions anchors downtown investment. The city is publicly known for its craft breweries, the annual ArtPrize competition, and civic anchors like Frederik Meijer Gardens, the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum, and the Grand River running through the center.
The school serves a small enrollment for its grade band, with class sizes at each grade level in the mid-thirties to low-forties range. The student body is predominantly Black, with a substantial Hispanic presence and smaller shares of white and multiracial students. A very large majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, pointing to a community with considerable economic need. Data on English learners and special education populations was not available, so those counts cannot be characterized here.
State assessment results from the most recent M-STEP cycle are low across every tested subject and grade. In math, third-grade proficiency sits in the single digits, and fourth- and fifth-grade results fall into a range that is lower still. English language arts shows a similar pattern, with third grade again in the single digits, fourth grade in the lowest reported band, and fifth grade only modestly higher. Science and social studies, both tested only in fifth grade, also land in the lowest reported proficiency range. When positioned against other districts in Kent County, the school's overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades places it in the bottom quartile. These results are presented as fact, and a parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand what supports and interventions are in place and how the building is working to move students toward grade-level proficiency.
Because Kent Hills serves only elementary grades, there is no graduation rate to report, and the absence of that metric reflects the grade band rather than any gap in performance. Chronic absenteeism and attendance data were not available. Discipline, staffing, and course-access information were also missing, so those dimensions of the school environment could not be included. Civil-rights data was not provided either.
The surrounding housing market in the school's zip code is relatively affordable compared with both state and national benchmarks. Typical home values and rents sit below the broader county median listing price, and the market shows modest year-over-year appreciation. Homes in Kent County generally move at a moderate pace, with inventory that has fluctuated seasonally. For families considering the area, housing costs near the school are more accessible than in many parts of the metro.
Grand Rapids Public Schools is operating under a publicly reported 2022-2027 Strategic Plan developed through community input, building on a prior Transformation Plan that the district says produced higher graduation rates, reduced chronic absenteeism, and improved test scores. The current plan centers on restoring stability and growth across the district. How that strategy translates into building-level changes at Kent Hills is something a family would want to ask about directly, given the assessment results and the economic profile of the community the school serves.
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