The top reported proficiency rate is 60% in Math. The lowest is 33% in Social studies.
Original Research by School Decision on Cedar Crest Elementary School
Cedar Crest Elementary School sits on South Cedar Street in Greenville, the largest city in Montcalm County. It is a regular public school serving pre-kindergarten through fifth grade, part of Greenville Public Schools. The enrollment is moderate for an elementary building in this area, with a fairly even spread across the early grades and a smaller fourth-grade cohort. A very large share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the working-class character of much of the surrounding community. The student body is predominantly white, with a smaller Hispanic presence and a handful of students from other racial or ethnic backgrounds. Data on English learners and special education populations was not available in the provided sources, so those dimensions of the school's student support picture remain an open question a parent may want to raise directly with the administration.
On state assessments, Cedar Crest's most recent M-STEP results paint a generally strong picture, particularly in mathematics. Math proficiency rates across third, fourth, and fifth grades were solidly above what many schools in the region post, with fourth grade standing out as the strongest. English language arts results show more variation: third grade was the soft spot, fifth grade was quite strong, and fourth grade landed in between. Science proficiency among fifth graders was on par with the school's math results, while social studies was the weakest area tested. Taken together, the school's overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades places it in the top quartile relative to districts in Montcalm County, and its proficiency index actually exceeds the highest district-level figure in the county cohort. That is a meaningful strength, especially given the high level of economic need in the student population. A parent weighing this school can feel reasonably confident about core academic instruction, though the lower ELA results in third grade and the social studies outcome are areas worth asking about.
No multi-year trend data was available, so it is not possible to say from the provided information whether these results represent steady performance, improvement, or a recent shift. Participation rates were also missing from the dataset.
Because Cedar Crest serves only elementary grades, there is no graduation rate to report, and the absence of that metric simply reflects the grade band rather than any gap in the school's performance. Chronic absenteeism data was not available. Information on discipline, course access, staffing ratios, and attendance was absent from the provided sources, so those pieces of the school environment could not be assessed here. Program offerings were not listed, which limits the picture of what enrichment or intervention supports exist beyond the core curriculum. Title I status was not reported either, though the free-or-reduced-price-lunch rate would typically make a school like this eligible.
Greenville itself is a small city with a deep manufacturing heritage. Publicly reported sources describe it as the former "Refrigerator Capital of the World," home to a succession of refrigerator factories including Electrolux, whose closure was a major economic blow to the area. The city is also the birthplace of the Meijer supermarket chain. The surrounding landscape includes potato, corn, dairy, and Christmas tree farms, and the city celebrates its Danish immigrant roots with an annual festival. The Flat River runs through town, and the city has a well-developed trail system connecting parks and circling the community. Downtown Greenville centers on a historic commercial district along Lafayette Street with early twentieth-century architecture, several buildings undergoing facade renovation. The housing market in the school's zip code is affordable relative to both state and national benchmarks, with home values below the Michigan median and well below the national figure. Rents are similarly modest. The price-to-income ratio sits in a range that suggests homeownership remains within reach for many local families, and renting consumes a manageable portion of typical household income.
The district brief search did not return usable results on recent bond elections or strategic initiatives, so any planned facilities investments or program changes at Greenville Public Schools could not be incorporated here. A parent interested in the district's direction would need to consult the district directly.
For a family drawn to a small-city setting with affordable housing, outdoor recreation, and a close-knit community identity, Cedar Crest offers solid academic outcomes in the core elementary subjects, particularly in math and upper-grade ELA. The questions worth pursuing in person concern early literacy supports, social studies instruction, and the enrichment and intervention programs that the available data did not capture.
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