The top reported proficiency rate is 45% in Science. The lowest is 27% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Richardson Elementary School
Richardson Elementary School sits in Oscoda, a small unincorporated community at the mouth of the Au Sable River along Lake Huron in Iosco County. The town blends residential streets with a tourism-oriented downtown and leans on seasonal outdoor recreation, surrounded by Huron National Forest. Historically a lumber town and later home to Wurtsmith Air Force Base, the area now depends heavily on tourism and hospitality, with the former base site now partly operating as Oscoda-Wurtsmith Airport and partly remaining a Superfund location with groundwater contamination. The publicly reported civic anchors center on Oscoda Beach Park, with its boardwalk, band shell, and accessible walking pier, and the community is compact enough that school and civic functions likely sit within or near the town rather than on distant campuses.
Richardson is a regular public school in the Oscoda Area Schools district, serving pre-kindergarten through sixth grade. Its enrollment is sizable for its grade band, with fairly even distribution across kindergarten through sixth grade. The student body is predominantly white, with a smaller Hispanic presence and a handful of students identifying as two or more races. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the area's modest economic base. Housing in the surrounding zip code sits well below both state and national benchmarks, with an estimated price-to-income ratio near the national median and monthly mortgage costs that remain relatively contained, though current mortgage rates hover in the mid-six percent range. The local market saw a slight year-over-year decline in home values, which tracks with the area's limited growth and seasonal economy.
On state assessments, the most recent M-STEP results paint a mixed picture. English language arts proficiency climbs steadily across grade levels, with third and fourth grade landing below the midpoint and fifth grade improving, then sixth grade showing a clear jump to where a majority of tested students reached proficiency. That upward trajectory in ELA is a genuine bright spot. Math tells a different story, with proficiency fluctuating across grades and dipping most noticeably in fifth grade before rebounding somewhat in sixth. Science proficiency in fifth grade sits in a middling range, and social studies results for the same grade land below the midpoint. Compared with other districts in Iosco County, Richardson's overall proficiency index falls in the bottom quartile, which is a soft spot a parent may want to look into further with the school, particularly in math where results are weakest.
Several data gaps are worth naming. Participation rates for state assessments were not available, so it is hard to gauge whether testing engagement was complete. IEP and English learner counts were also missing, so the school's special population profile is incomplete. Chronic absenteeism data was not available for this school, and because Richardson does not serve high school grades, there is no graduation rate to report. The district brief turned up little in the way of recent parent-relevant changes such as referendums, curriculum shifts, or facility investments, so there is nothing concrete to report on that front.
What a family finds at Richardson is a community-rooted elementary school in a rural, recreation-oriented town with affordable housing and a student body that reflects the area's working-class character. The academic results show real strength in upper-grade reading and writing, weaker performance in math, and a county-level standing that suggests the school is working from a lower base than some neighbors. Families drawn to Oscoda's outdoor setting and small-town pace will find a school that fits that context, with clear room to ask questions about math instruction and support.
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