Leland Public School, Leland MI - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Leland Public School

Leland Public School is a single-building public school serving prekindergarten through twelfth grade in the unincorporated community of Leland, at the northern tip of Leelanau County. It is the kind of small, rural, all-grades-under-one-roof school that defines many remote Michigan lakeshore communities. The enrollment is modest, with each grade carrying a small cohort, which means students grow up alongside the same peers from early childhood through graduation. The student body is predominantly white, with a meaningful Hispanic presence and a handful of students from other racial backgrounds. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals. The school reports no English-learner or special-education population figures in the data provided, so those counts are a gap a parent may want to ask the school about directly.

Academically, the most recent state testing picture is a generally strong one, with a clear soft spot in the upper middle grades. In English language arts, proficiency rates across grades three through seven sit in a healthy mid range, with sixth grade standing out as particularly high. Eighth-grade ELA, tested through the PSAT, also lands well above half proficient. Math follows a similar pattern through the elementary and early middle grades, with most cohorts showing more than half of students proficient and several grades reaching well into the upper portion. The exception is eighth-grade math, where proficiency drops sharply, with only about a third of students reaching that bar. Science shows the same split: fifth-grade science is solid, while eighth-grade science also falls to about a third proficient. Social studies, by contrast, is strong in both tested grades. When the school is placed against its Leelanau County peers using a countywide comparison set, its overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades lands in the top quartile of the county's districts. That is a meaningful marker of academic strength for a school of this size and setting. No multi-year trend data was available, so it is not possible to say from the provided data whether these results are improving, holding steady, or declining over time.

No graduation rate was reported in the data provided. Because the school does serve high school grades, that absence is not explained by the grade band, and a parent looking at Leland as a through-line option may want to ask the school directly for its graduation and postsecondary outcomes. The same applies to program offerings, course access, staffing levels, discipline data, and attendance figures, none of which were available in the provided material.

The community context shapes what kind of place this is for a family. Leland sits on a narrow isthmus between Lake Michigan and Lake Leelanau, and it functions primarily as a tourism destination and summer colony. The historic Fishtown district, with its working fishery and converted shanties, is the commercial and social heart. The community has drawn wealthy seasonal visitors from Chicago, Detroit, and other Midwestern cities for generations, and the population skews older and more affluent than a typical small Michigan town. M-22 is the only road in or out, winding northeast toward Northport and southwest toward Glen Arbor. The year-round population is small, and growth has been modest. No major residential developments were identified in publicly reported material, and real estate demand appears driven more by second-home and seasonal buyers than by families seeking new construction.

That housing market is a central consideration for any parent thinking about moving into the attendance area. Home values in Leland's zip code run far above both the state and national benchmarks, with a price-to-income ratio that signals a difficult market for first-time buyers or families relying on a single median income. Monthly mortgage costs at current rates are steep. Rental data was not available, which limits the picture for families who would lease rather than buy. The economic base is almost entirely tourism, fishing, and small hospitality businesses, with no large employers. The unemployment rate in the broader economy has been stable. Publicly reported research did not identify any recent referendums, curriculum changes, or other parent-relevant district shifts, so the district appears to be operating in a steady state rather than mid-transition.

What this adds up to is a small, tight-knit public school with solid academic results in most subjects and grades, positioned well within its county, set in a beautiful but expensive seasonal community. It fits families who want a rural, personal-scale school environment, can manage the housing costs, and are willing to ask direct questions about the gaps the public data does not fill, particularly around eighth-grade math and science, graduation outcomes, and support services.

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Academic performance

State test results and graduation outcomes.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

>=90%Cohort of 40 students · Class of 2021

The federal source publishes a banded range instead of an exact rate when the graduating cohort is small enough that an exact number could risk identifying individual students.

How this school compares to all schools in this state

Each dot is one school’s SY 2020-21 graduation rate, binned by integer rate. Taller columns mean more schools at that rate. This school is highlighted.

1,027 schools plotted. 80 additional schools' rates are federally suppressed and not shown. Data: EDFacts SY 2020-21.

Math

Grade 368%

School 68% · District 68%

▲ 26 pts above state median

Grade 455%

School 55% · District 55%

▲ 17 pts above state median

Grade 561%

School 61% · District 61%

▲ 29 pts above state median

Grade 650%

School 50% · District 50%

▲ 22 pts above state median

Grade 767%

School 67% · District 67%

▲ 38 pts above state median

Grade 833%

School 33% · District 33%

▲ 6 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 351%

School 51% · District 51%

▲ 14 pts above state median

Grade 453%

School 53% · District 53%

▲ 12 pts above state median

Grade 561%

School 61% · District 61%

▲ 18 pts above state median

Grade 675%

School 75% · District 75%

▲ 41 pts above state median

Grade 759%

School 59% · District 59%

▲ 25 pts above state median

Grade 870%

School 70% · District 70%

▲ 8 pts above state median

Science

Grade 561%

School 61% · District 61%

▲ 21 pts above state median

Grade 833%

School 33% · District 33%

▼ 4 pts below state median

Social studies

Grade 557%

School 57% · District 57%

▲ 28 pts above state median

Grade 867%

School 67% · District 67%

▲ 24 pts above state median

This schoolLeland Public School District, 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-income36%Higher-income58%21 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income33%Higher-income65%32 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income46%Higher-income86%41 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income36%Higher-income75%39 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income55%Higher-income79%24 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income55%Higher-income73%19 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income33%Higher-income70%36 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income55%Higher-income75%21 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income36%Higher-income32%5 pp gap