The top reported proficiency rate is 10% in English language arts. The lowest is 9% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Herig School
Herig School sits on Houghton Avenue in Saginaw, serving pre-kindergarten through sixth grade as a regular public school in the Saginaw School District of the City of. The school enrolls a little over three hundred students, with classes spread fairly evenly across the early elementary and upper elementary grades. The student body is predominantly Black, with a substantial Hispanic population and smaller groups of white students and students identifying as two or more races. Nearly every student qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, which places this school among the highest-poverty buildings in its district. The data does not include special education or English learner counts, so those population details are absent from what we received.
On Michigan's M-STEP assessments, Herig's results are low across every tested grade and subject. Third-grade math proficiency sits in the single digits, and fourth- and fifth-grade math proficiency falls into a reported range that begins at zero and tops out around the single-digit mark. English language arts tells a similar story: third grade is very low, fourth grade reaches the low teens, and fifth grade lands back in that lowest reported band. Science and social studies, both tested only in fifth grade at this school, also fall into the lowest reported range. When measured against other districts in Saginaw County, Herig's overall proficiency index lands in the bottom quartile. A parent weighing this school may want to look into how the building supports students working below grade level and what intervention or tutoring structures are in place. The data we received does not include chronic absenteeism figures, staffing details, discipline data, or course access information, so we cannot speak to those dimensions from what is here.
Because Herig does not serve high school grades, there is no graduation rate to report. That absence reflects the grade band, not a gap in performance. Similarly, no multi-year trend data was available, so we cannot say whether these results represent a decline, a plateau, or a recent change.
The surrounding community shapes what Herig is. Saginaw is a former lumber and manufacturing city whose identity was long tied to General Motors and automotive parts production. Like much of the Rust Belt, the city has lost population and jobs as manufacturing contracted, though it retains a higher proportion of manufacturing work than the national average. Publicly reported sources describe current economic development efforts centered on innovation, clean energy, and continued manufacturing exports. The city sits along the Saginaw River, about fifteen miles inland from Saginaw Bay, and the surrounding watershed includes the largest contiguous freshwater coastal wetland in the United States, with a nearby National Wildlife Refuge. Downtown Saginaw holds civic and cultural anchors including the Castle Museum, Temple Theatre, and Dow Event Center.
Housing in Herig's zip code is inexpensive by any standard. Home values sit far below both the Michigan and national benchmarks, and rents are correspondingly low. For a family looking to buy, the estimated monthly mortgage on a typical home in this area is modest, and the price-to-income ratio runs close to the national level, meaning local incomes roughly keep pace with local prices even though both are low. Home values have been rising year over year at a moderate clip, and rents have edged up as well, but the absolute cost of housing remains among the most affordable in the state.
At the district level, families should know that the Saginaw School District of the City of recently restructured its secondary schools. In fall 2024, the district opened Saginaw United High School, merging Arthur Hill High School and Saginaw High School into a single new building. The former Arthur Hill facility became the Saginaw Arts and Sciences Academy, and the former Saginaw High School building became Saginaw Middle School. This consolidation reshaped attendance boundaries, school choice, and grade configurations across the district, so a family with children moving up from Herig will encounter a different secondary pathway than families did just a few years ago.
What we do not have is program information specific to Herig. The data includes no details on extracurriculars, specialized instruction, after-school offerings, or any magnet or thematic focus. Title I status was not reported, and no information on school governance beyond its status as a non-charter regular public school was provided. A parent interested in what happens inside the building day to day would need to ask the school directly.
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