Lincoln School, Saint Joseph MI - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Lincoln School

Lincoln School is a regular public elementary school serving pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in Saint Joseph, Michigan, part of the St. Joseph Public Schools district. It sits on Orchard Avenue in a residential setting, separate from the compact downtown and lakefront core that defines this Lake Michigan shore town. Saint Joseph functions as the Berrien County seat, paired with adjacent Benton Harbor as the so-called Twin Cities. The downtown grid along State Street, the bluff-top park system, Silver Beach, and the pier lighthouses give the city a walkable, tourist-friendly center, while the surrounding neighborhoods where the schools are located are quieter and lower-density. Whirlpool Corporation's global headquarters in Benton Harbor anchors the regional economy, supplemented by health care, county government, tourism, and light manufacturing. The city has experienced steady population decline over several decades and is nearly built out, so growth efforts center on lakefront and downtown revitalization rather than new housing expansion.

The housing market in the school's zip code sits above the Michigan state benchmark but below the national one, with typical home values and rents that reflect a comfortable lakeside community. The price-to-income ratio is moderate, and rents take up a manageable share of typical household income. A family considering the area would find a stable, established residential market rather than one in rapid flux.

Lincoln's enrollment is moderate for an elementary building, with fairly even distribution across the grade levels. The student body is predominantly white, with smaller Black, Hispanic, multiracial, and Asian populations. About a third of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which is a relatively modest share. Data on students with individualized education programs and English learners was not reported, so those populations could not be characterized here.

On the most recent state assessments, Lincoln's results are a clear strength, particularly in English language arts. Proficiency rates in ELA climb from the mid-fifties in third grade to nearly two-thirds of fifth graders meeting or exceeding standards, a pattern that suggests students are building reading and writing skills steadily as they move through the grades. Science stands out as well, with a strong share of fifth graders demonstrating proficiency. Social studies results for fifth grade are solid. Math is the softer area: third-grade proficiency is in the mid-fifties, but it dips in fourth and fifth grade to where fewer than half of tested students meet the standard. This is a pattern a parent may want to look into further with the school, particularly to understand how math instruction and intervention are structured across the upper elementary grades. Taken together across all tested subjects and grades, Lincoln's overall proficiency places it in the top quartile relative to districts in Berrien County, which is a strong standing among its peers.

Because Lincoln serves only elementary grades, there is no graduation rate, and the state does not test pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, first, or second grade, so those levels have no assessment results to report. Chronic absenteeism data was not available for this school. Information on staffing ratios, course access, discipline, and specialized programs was not provided, so those dimensions could not be assessed. No recent parent-relevant district changes were identified in the available research.

What the picture supports is a solidly performing elementary school in a stable lakeside community with a walkable civic core and established residential neighborhoods. Families drawn to Saint Joseph's lakefront character and small-city feel would find a school with strong literacy and science outcomes, a peer environment that is moderate in size and relatively economically diverse, and a math trajectory that warrants a closer conversation with staff.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 355%

School 55% · District 62% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▲ 11 pts above county median

Grade 446%

School 46% · District 59% · ▼ 14 pts below district

▲ 7 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 545%

School 45% · District 50% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▲ 13 pts above state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 356%

School 56% · District 59% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▲ 18 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

Grade 460%

School 60% · District 69% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▲ 19 pts above state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

Grade 565%

School 65% · District 59% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 22 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

Science

Grade 570%

School 70% · District 60% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▲ 30 pts above state median · ▲ 30 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 554%

School 54% · District 47% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▲ 26 pts above state median · ▲ 24 pts above county median

This schoolSt. Joseph Public Schools, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 3Lower-income48%Higher-income59%11 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income43%Higher-income67%24 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income40%Higher-income77%37 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income39%Higher-income62%23 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income29%Higher-income53%25 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income24%Higher-income55%31 pp gap