The top reported proficiency rate is 79% in Science. The lowest is 45% in Social studies.
Original Research by School Decision on Park Elemementary School
Park Elementary School sits in Hudsonville, a suburban community along the interstate midway between Grand Rapids and Holland in Ottawa County. The school serves kindergarten through fourth grade as part of Hudsonville Public School District, a growing system that has restructured its feeder patterns in recent years. Park feeds into Baldwin Street Middle School along with several other elementaries, and a new grade five and six building opened in the district in recent years, shifting how students transition out of the elementary level. A district bond issue funded multiple construction projects, including high school additions, reflecting the enrollment pressure this area is absorbing.
Hudsonville is one of the faster-growing places in Michigan. The downtown core along Chicago Drive has drawn investment with mixed-use projects and residential development, while three business parks on the periphery accommodate light industry and commercial growth. The built environment is predominantly single-family homes with a compact downtown anchored by Terra Square, a community center hosting the farmers market. The city is car-dependent, with most residents driving alone to work. Civic life centers on parks, the Gary Byker Memorial Library, and the redeveloped downtown rather than pervasive walkability. The largest employment sectors are manufacturing, educational services, and health care. Housing here carries a premium. Typical home values in the school's zip code sit well above both the state and national benchmarks, with year-over-year appreciation running ahead of state levels. Estimated monthly mortgage costs and rents are close to one another, and the price-to-income ratio sits above five times national median income, meaning families buying into this zone face a relatively expensive market compared with the broader state.
Park's student body is modest in size for its grade band and predominantly white, with small Hispanic, multiracial, Asian, and Black populations. A smaller share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch than in many Michigan schools, which aligns with the area's economic profile. Data on individualized education programs and English learner status was not available, so those dimensions of student support cannot be characterized here.
Academically, the most recent state assessment results are strong. Third graders showed very high math proficiency and solid ELA proficiency. Fourth graders performed well in ELA, with math proficiency somewhat lower than third grade but still well above typical state levels. Across tested subjects and grades, Park's overall proficiency places it in the top quartile relative to districts in Ottawa County, a peer set that includes some of the stronger systems in the region. That positioning matters because Ottawa County as a whole tends to perform above state averages, so standing near the top of this group reflects genuinely high attainment.
The school does not serve fifth grade currently, so there is no recent fifth-grade testing. Older science and social studies results from a prior year when the school included fifth grade show a different picture: science proficiency was high, while social studies proficiency was markedly lower. A parent may want to look into this further with the school, though the grade configuration has since changed and those results reflect a different cohort and structure.
No graduation rate, chronic absenteeism, or course access data was available for Park, which is expected for an elementary school that does not serve high school grades. Staffing and attendance figures were also absent from the available data. Civil rights data was not reported in the materials provided.
For a family considering Park, the school offers a strong academic foundation in the early grades, a peer environment that is relatively homogeneous and economically stable, and a community experiencing steady growth and downtown reinvestment. The housing market is demanding, and the commuting pattern is car-centric. The district has invested in new facilities to manage enrollment growth, which means feeder patterns and building assignments may continue to evolve. Parents looking for detail on special education services, English learner support, or before- and after-school programming would need to go directly to the district, as none of that appeared in the available records.
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