The top reported proficiency rate is 38% in Science. The lowest is 26% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Simonds Elementary School
Simonds Elementary School sits in Madison Heights, an inner-ring suburb of Detroit in Oakland County. The school is part of Lamphere Public Schools and serves children from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. Madison Heights is an auto-oriented community where residential streets weave between commercial corridors and industrial parks. The city has no traditional downtown; civic life centers on a municipal complex rather than a walkable main street. Interstates frame the city, with one running along the western edge and another forming the southern border, so highway access is a defining feature of daily life here. The community has seen a steady population decline over recent decades, though it retains a strong commercial and industrial tax base as part of Oakland County's Automation Alley tech corridor. Publicly reported sources note the presence of a large Asian supermarket and the Chinese Cultural Center, reflecting a visible Asian community presence in the city.
The school itself is modest in size for its grade band. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which speaks to the economic mix of the surrounding neighborhood. The student body is predominantly white, with meaningful representation of Black, Hispanic, multiracial, Asian, and American Indian students. IEP and English learner rates were not reported in the available data, so those population details are not included here. Title I status was also not available. The school lists pre-kindergarten in its served grades, though no pre-kindergarten enrollment was reported in the current data.
On Michigan's M-STEP assessments for the most recent school year, Simonds posted mixed results across subjects and grade levels. In English language arts, proficiency was moderate in third and fourth grade and rose to a stronger level by fifth grade. Math results were more subdued, with third and fourth grade landing below the ELA figures and fifth grade dropping further. Science proficiency among fifth graders was in the moderate range, while social studies was softer. Taken together, the school's overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades places it below the midpoint relative to districts in Oakland County, a comparison set that draws on county membership. A parent may want to look into this further with the school, particularly in math, where results were the weakest across the grade levels tested.
Because Simonds serves only elementary grades, there is no graduation rate to report. Chronic absenteeism data was not available either, and no trend data across multiple years was provided, so it is not possible to say whether these results represent improvement or decline from prior performance.
Housing in the surrounding zip code is relatively affordable compared with county and state benchmarks. Typical home values sit well below the Oakland County median listing price, and rents are similarly modest. The broader county market has seen a recent increase in active listings alongside a slight pullback in median listing prices, which could give buyers more room to maneuver. For families renting, the cost burden appears manageable relative to income. No specific new housing developments or growth projects were identified in available sources for Madison Heights.
We looked for the district's strategic priorities or recent parent-relevant changes, such as bond issues, curriculum shifts, or budget developments, and found little that cleared a lasting-impact threshold. The search returned only basic district profile information, so that gap is named rather than filled. Program offerings, course access, staffing levels, and discipline data for Simonds were also not available in the provided material.
What the picture suggests is a small, community-rooted elementary school in an affordable, working-suburb setting with a diverse but predominantly white student body and a high share of economically disadvantaged students. Academic results are uneven, with English language arts a relative bright spot and math a clear area of concern. Families considering this school would benefit from asking about math instruction and support, any supplemental programming available, and how the school addresses the needs of its economically diverse population.
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