The top reported proficiency rate is 63% in Science. The lowest is 37% in Social studies.
Original Research by School Decision on Cherry Creek Elementary School
Cherry Creek Elementary School sits in Lowell, a small Michigan river town in Kent County, roughly fifteen miles east of Grand Rapids. Lowell grew up at the confluence of the Flat River and the Grand River, and its restored Main Street historic district gives the town a compact, walkable core with Victorian-style lamps, a town clock, and storefronts along the sidewalk. A walkway near the dam in the center of town follows the Flat River, and the North Country Trail runs just north of downtown. The surrounding area is largely car-dependent, with most residents commuting to work and the average household owning two vehicles. Health care, manufacturing, and retail trade are the largest employment sectors for residents. The town reads as stable and small-scale, with no major development projects surfaced in publicly reported sources.
Cherry Creek is a regular public school serving grades two through five, part of Lowell Area Schools. The enrollment is moderate for an upper-elementary building, with roughly equal class sizes across the four grades. The student body is predominantly white, with small numbers of Hispanic, multiracial, Asian, Black, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and American Indian or Alaska Native students. Just over a third of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Data on English learners and students with individualized education programs was not reported, so those populations cannot be characterized here.
Academic results from the most recent M-STEP testing show a mixed but generally solid picture. Third-grade proficiency is the strongest area, with clear majorities of students meeting or exceeding standards in both math and English language arts. Math proficiency declines as students move up: fourth grade sits near the middle, and fifth grade drops to a lower level, with fewer than four in ten students proficient. English language arts follows a somewhat different pattern, dipping in fourth grade before recovering in fifth grade to a level just above half. Fifth-grade science stands out as a genuine strength, with a clear majority of students demonstrating proficiency. Social studies is the weakest tested subject in fifth grade, matching the same low level as fifth-grade math. A parent may want to look into the fifth-grade math and social studies results further with the school, since those are the areas where the fewest students are reaching proficiency.
Compared with other districts in Kent County, Cherry Creek's overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades places it above the midpoint. This positions the school reasonably well relative to its county peers, though the grade-by-grade variation means that a family's experience can depend heavily on which year their child is in.
Because Cherry Creek serves only grades two through five, there is no graduation rate, and the school has no high school program offerings, AP courses, or career pathways to describe. Those questions belong to the secondary schools in Lowell Area Schools. At the district level, a publicly reported capital improvement is worth noting: Lowell Middle School, which Cherry Creek students will eventually attend, underwent a major renovation completed in fall 2023, converting the former high school building into the middle school facility for grades six through eight. That means students moving up from Cherry Creek will enter a freshly renovated learning environment.
The housing market around Cherry Creek reflects the broader Kent County picture. Typical home values in the school's zip code are above the state benchmark but below the national benchmark, and the county market shows a healthy supply of active listings with homes moving in roughly a month. Price-to-income ratios suggest that buying is a stretch for many families, and estimated monthly mortgage costs run higher than typical rents, which themselves take up a meaningful share of household income. For families considering a move into the attendance area, the market is active but not frenzied, with prices rising modestly year over year.
Cherry Creek fits families looking for a small-town setting with a walkable downtown, a river-and-trail recreational backdrop, and an upper-elementary school that produces strong early-grade results and solid science outcomes, alongside some questions about math and social studies in the upper grades. The transition into a renovated middle school is an added draw for families thinking about the full K-12 pathway through Lowell Area Schools.
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