The top reported proficiency rate is 17% in English language arts. The lowest is 11% in Social studies.
Original Research by School Decision on Cascades Elementary School
Cascades Elementary School is a regular public school in Jackson, Michigan, serving kindergarten through fifth grade. It is part of Jackson Public Schools and sits on South Wisner Street on the south side of the city. The school is relatively new, having opened in fall of a recent year as part of a district effort to expand elementary options. A parent considering this school is looking at a young campus in a district that has been actively investing in its facilities, including a bond proposal that would affect property taxes and school infrastructure.
Jackson itself is a mid-sized industrial city and the county seat of Jackson County. Publicly reported sources describe it as an early automotive manufacturing center where more than twenty car brands were once produced, and the auto parts industry remains one of the largest employers of skilled machine operators in the county. The downtown core is compact, with the Bright Walls mural project, two historic Coney Island restaurants, the Michigan Theatre, and the nation's oldest train station in continuous active use all clustered along or near East Michigan Avenue. Outside that core, the city is auto-oriented, built around the junction of interstate and federal highways. Jackson has experienced steady population decline since mid-century due to restructuring in heavy industry, and the city levies an income tax on both residents and nonresidents. Major private employers include CMS Energy, Henry Ford Health, and Eaton Corporation, with Michigan Automotive Compressor serving as the largest manufacturer in the county.
The housing market around Cascades Elementary is affordable relative to both state and national benchmarks. Home values in the school's zip code sit well below the state benchmark and further below the national one, and rents follow a similar pattern. Rent-to-income ratios are modest, and the estimated monthly mortgage remains below typical rent figures, which may appeal to families weighing ownership costs. Year-over-year, home values have shown slight appreciation, and rents have grown at a somewhat faster clip.
At Cascades, nearly all students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic context of the surrounding community. The student body is diverse: Black students form the largest group, followed by White students, with a substantial share identifying as two or more races, and smaller Hispanic, Asian, and American Indian or Alaska Native populations. Data on English learners and students with individualized education programs was not available, so those dimensions of the school's student support profile are not captured here.
On state assessments, Cascades' results are low across tested subjects and grades. In English language arts, roughly one in five third graders and one in five fifth graders demonstrated proficiency, with fourth grade markedly lower. Math proficiency followed a similar pattern, with third grade showing the strongest result among the three tested grades, fourth grade in a very low range, and fifth grade the weakest. Fifth-grade science and social studies proficiency were also low. When positioned relative to districts in Jackson County, Cascades sits in the bottom quartile for overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades. Participation rates were not reported. Trend data was not available, so it is not possible to say whether these results represent a change from prior years. A parent may want to look into this further with the school, particularly how instruction and intervention are structured given these outcomes and the school's relatively short operating history.
The school does not have a graduation rate, chronic absenteeism figure, or postsecondary readiness metric because it serves only elementary grades. Data on discipline, course access, staffing, attendance, and civil-rights indicators was not provided. Information on specific programs, magnet or charter status, Title I designation, and school locale classification was also absent from the available data.
What the picture does show is a new elementary campus in an affordable, historically industrial city, serving a high-need student population with academic results that currently sit near the low end of the county's range. Families drawn to Jackson's cost of living and civic character may find the school accessible, but would benefit from asking the district directly about its academic improvement plans, student support services, and how the recent facility investments translate into classroom resources.
See more original research from School Decision →