Pinewood School, Jenison MI - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Pinewood School

Pinewood School is a regular public elementary school in Jenison, Michigan, serving kindergarten through sixth grade as part of Jenison Public Schools. It sits on Chippewa Street in a predominantly residential corner of Ottawa County, part of a bedroom community that grew from a nineteenth-century lumber settlement along the Grand River into a suburban enclave near Grand Rapids. The school draws from a community that is car-dependent and commuter-oriented, with highway access via I-196 and Chicago Drive, and civic life centered more on parks and the river than on a traditional downtown. Grand Ravines North and South and Steamboat Park on the Grand River are the main recreational anchors. The area has no municipal government of its own; administration falls to Georgetown Charter Township.

The enrollment is moderate for a K-6 building, with roughly even distribution across the seven grade levels. The student body is predominantly white, with a smaller Hispanic presence and a scattering of students identifying as two or more races, Asian, Black, and American Indian. Just over a quarter of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which is below the level typical of higher-need schools. Data on English learners and students with individualized education programs was not available, so it is not possible to characterize those populations here.

On state assessments, Pinewood shows a clear pattern: stronger results in the early and upper elementary grades, with a dip in the middle. Third-grade math proficiency is notably high, and sixth-grade math and English language arts both come in strong. Fifth grade is the soft spot, with math proficiency dipping well below the school's other grades, and science and social studies results landing in a middling range. English language arts is the more consistent subject across grades, with fourth, fifth, and sixth all performing similarly and third grade somewhat behind those. Taken together, the school's overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades places it above the midpoint among districts in Ottawa County, in a county group whose proficiency ranges from considerably lower to somewhat higher than Pinewood. This positions the school as a solid performer within a generally strong county.

No multi-year trend data was available, so it is not possible to say whether these results represent improvement, decline, or stability over time. A parent concerned about the fifth-grade math dip may want to look into this further with the school, since the data shows a real contrast with the grades on either side of it.

The housing market around Pinewood is a factor families will weigh. Home values in the Jenison ZIP code sit near the national benchmark and above the Michigan state benchmark, with modest year-over-year appreciation. The price-to-income ratio is in a range that suggests buying here requires a solid household income, and estimated monthly mortgage costs run somewhat higher than local rents. Renting is the more affordable option in pure monthly cost terms, though the difference is not large. The community's population has been relatively stable over two decades with only slight fluctuations, and no major new housing developments or commercial projects were identified in the available research. For families, this means a settled suburban setting without rapid transformation.

Information on discipline, course access, staffing, attendance, and chronic absenteeism was not available, which limits the picture of school climate and student support. The district brief for Jenison Public Schools did not surface any parent-relevant changes in the recent past, so there is little to report on programmatic shifts or facility changes that would affect a family's decision.

What the available data does show is a K-6 school in a quiet, established suburb near Grand Rapids, with above-midpoint academic performance for its county, a student body that is mostly white and moderate-income, and a housing market that favors buyers with steady incomes. The academic strength in the youngest and oldest tested grades, paired with the fifth-grade dip in math, is the pattern a parent would want to understand before enrolling.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 377%

School 77% · District 68% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▲ 35 pts above state median · ▲ 19 pts above county median

Grade 448%

School 48% · District 58% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▲ 10 pts above state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Grade 542%

School 42% · District 51% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▲ 10 pts above state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Grade 667%

School 67% · District 60% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▲ 39 pts above state median · ▲ 23 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 356%

School 56% · District 59% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▲ 18 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 466%

School 66% · District 62% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 25 pts above state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 567%

School 67% · District 66%

▲ 24 pts above state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

Grade 675%

School 75% · District 64% · ▲ 10 pts above district

▲ 41 pts above state median · ▲ 20 pts above county median

Science

Grade 548%

School 48% · District 61% · ▼ 13 pts below district

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 554%

School 54% · District 54%

▲ 26 pts above state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

This schoolJenison Public Schools, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 3Lower-income43%Higher-income62%19 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income50%Higher-income74%24 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income67%Higher-income77%10 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income57%Higher-income86%29 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income50%Higher-income72%22 pp gap