The top reported proficiency rate is 64% in Math. The lowest is 13% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Will L Lee School
Will L. Lee School is the early-elementary building in Richmond Community Schools, serving children from pre-kindergarten through third grade. It sits on South Forest Avenue in Richmond, a small city that straddles the Macomb and St. Clair county line in Michigan's thumb region. The school is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet, and it feeds into the broader Richmond district, which covers the municipality along with portions of Lenox, Casco, and Columbus townships.
Academic results at this school come from a single tested grade, since Michigan's state assessment begins in third grade. On the most recent M-STEP, third graders here performed well in math, with a clear majority reaching proficiency. English language arts results were more mixed, with roughly half of tested third graders meeting the proficient-or-above standard. A reader can take the math result as a genuine strength; the ELA result is solid but leaves room a parent may want to look into further with the school. When the school's overall proficiency is placed against districts in Macomb County, it lands above the midpoint, which is a encouraging sign for a building that serves only the youngest students. An older science result from a prior year appeared in the data, but that measure dates to a time when the school served fourth grade, which it no longer does, so the figure does not reflect the current grade configuration.
The school has an enrollment appropriate for its grade band, spread across kindergarten and grades one through three. No pre-kindergarten students were counted in the current enrollment figures, despite the grade range listing pre-kindergarten, which may mean the program was not operating or was unfilled during the count period. The student body is predominantly white, with a small Hispanic population and very small representation from other racial and ethnic groups. A moderate share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The data did not include counts for students with individualized education programs or English learners, so those populations could not be characterized.
Richmond itself is a compact, growing community with a pedestrian-friendly downtown along the M-19 corridor. The city has a comprehensive sidewalk system, and the Macomb Orchard Trail, a multi-use non-motorized path, begins here and connects to a regional trail network. Parks, including Beebe Street Memorial Park with its ballfields and pool, sit near the school buildings. The annual Richmond Good Old Days Festival brings parades, tournaments, and fireworks to the community. The city describes itself as growing and offers housing across a range of price points. Home values in the area sit above the state benchmark but below the national figure, and the price-to-income ratio is moderate by national standards. Many residents commute to jobs outside the city, given the modest mean travel time to work and the city's proximity to the Detroit, Flint, and Port Huron metro areas via several highways.
At the district level, Richmond Community Schools placed a bond proposal before voters to fund building expansions and facility improvements, citing capacity needs across the district's shared campus. That proposal signals the district is responding to enrollment growth and the condition of its facilities, both of which matter to families with children entering the early grades.
The data did not include staffing ratios, attendance or chronic absenteeism figures, discipline information, course access details, or program offerings for Will L. Lee. Civil rights data was also absent. These gaps are common for early-elementary buildings, which do not generate the full range of metrics that middle and high schools produce. A family considering this school would benefit from asking directly about class sizes, support services, and any specialized programming for young children, since those details did not appear in the available records.
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