Original Research by School Decision on The Success Academy
The Success Academy is an alternative public school serving grades five through twelve within the Saginaw School District of the City of. It sits on Tuscola Street in Saginaw, a Rust Belt city along the Saginaw River whose identity was shaped by lumber in the nineteenth century and by General Motors automobile and parts manufacturing through much of the twentieth. The city's industrial base contracted sharply in recent decades, and publicly reported sources describe continued population decline, with modern economic development efforts oriented toward innovation, clean energy, and remaining manufacturing exports. Housing in the school's zip code is very inexpensive relative to both Michigan and national benchmarks, and renting costs modestly more per month than carrying a mortgage at current rates. For families connected to the school, this is an affordable place to live, though the broader community context is one of a city working through long economic transition.
The school's enrollment is small, with the largest concentration of students in the high school grades. The student body is predominantly Black, with a Hispanic minority and smaller shares of White, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, multiracial, and American Indian or Alaska Native students. Nearly all students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which places this school among those serving a highly economically disadvantaged population. Data on English learners and students with individualized education programs was not available, so those dimensions of the student profile are incomplete here.
State assessment results for the most recent year were limited and, where reported, consistently low. Fourth and fifth grade results were suppressed because no students in those grades were tested. For grades six through eight, small numbers of students sat for Michigan's M-STEP and PSAT assessments in math, English language arts, science, and social studies. In every tested grade and subject where results were reported, proficiency fell into the lowest reporting band, and the proficient student count was zero in each case. Because this is an alternative school, these results likely reflect the specific population the school serves rather than a typical comprehensive middle school program, but the data as reported is what it is. A parent considering this school may want to look into how the school approaches academic growth and support for students performing below grade level, since the published proficiency picture does not capture progress measures the school may track internally.
Graduation rate data was not available for this school. Chronic absenteeism figures were also missing. No information on course access, staffing ratios, discipline, or attendance was provided. The comparison fact-set, which positions this school relative to districts in Saginaw County, could not place it on proficiency, graduation, or attendance because the school's own values were missing. This means a reader cannot use the county comparison to contextualize The Success Academy against its neighbors on those standard measures.
Program offerings were not listed, so nothing in the available data describes specific career pathways, dual-credit arrangements, electives, or support services the school may provide. Given its alternative designation, the school likely fills a particular role within the district for students whose needs were not met in traditional settings, but the data does not describe what that role looks like in practice.
The parent district recently underwent a major restructuring. In fall 2024, publicly reported sources indicate the district opened Saginaw United High School, a new facility created by merging Arthur Hill High School and Saginaw High School. The former Arthur Hill building became the Saginaw Arts and Sciences Academy, and the former Saginaw High building became Saginaw Middle School. This consolidation reshaped school choice, attendance boundaries, and grade configurations across the district, and families moving through Saginaw's public schools are navigating a newly reconfigured system.
What the data does convey clearly is that The Success Academy is a small, alternative, economically disadvantaged school in a city contending with decades of industrial decline, with published proficiency results that are low and much of its outcome data unreported. Families for whom this school is an option would benefit from direct conversation with the school about its instructional model, its approach to credit recovery or individualized support, and how it measures and reports student progress beyond what state assessments capture.
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