The top reported proficiency rate is 53% in English language arts. The lowest is 15% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Syring Elementary School
Syring Elementary School sits on Oakview Drive in Swartz Creek, a small suburb of Flint in Genesee County. It is a regular public school within Swartz Creek Community Schools, currently serving prekindergarten through second grade. The enrollment is modest for its grade band, with a substantial share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price meals. The student body is predominantly white, with Black, Hispanic, and multiracial students making up the remainder. Data on individualized education programs and English learners was not available, so those figures cannot be characterized here.
Because Syring now serves only the early grades, Michigan's M-STEP state assessments, which begin in third grade, do not apply to its current students. There are no current state testing results to report, and there is no graduation rate for the same reason. The school has no high school grades, so that metric does not apply. Attendance, discipline, staffing, and course-access data were also absent from the available sources, and we noted those gaps rather than guessing.
What the data does contain are assessment results from an earlier school year, when the school apparently served a wider grade range that included tested grades. Those results, from several years prior, show a mixed academic picture. Third-grade proficiency was solidly above the middle of the range in both math and English language arts. Fourth-grade results dropped noticeably, with math proficiency falling well below half the tested students. Fifth-grade math remained low, while ELA recovered somewhat. Science and social studies proficiency were quite low, with only a small fraction of tested students reaching proficiency in each. Taken together, the school's overall proficiency index from that period placed it in the top quartile relative to districts in Genesee County, though that figure reflects an earlier grade configuration and may not represent the school as it operates today. A parent trying to understand current academic outcomes would want to ask the school directly, since no recent testing data exists for its present grade range.
Swartz Creek itself is a low-density suburban community immediately south of I-69. The city describes itself as having a peaceful small-town atmosphere, with residential neighborhoods and commercial development spread across separated zones rather than a dense, walkable core. A Meijer store on Morrish Road serves as a retail anchor. Civic life centers on a municipal campus that houses City Hall, police and fire departments, a senior center, and the Perkins Library. The population skews somewhat older, and the built environment is car-oriented. The housing market here is relatively affordable compared with state and national benchmarks. Typical home values sit below the state median and well below national levels, while rents are moderate. The county market has seen recent increases in listing prices and a modest rise in active listings, with homes spending roughly a month and a half on the market. For a family considering the area, housing costs are likely to be manageable relative to many Michigan suburbs, though mortgage rates remain elevated by recent historical standards.
The broader district has been investing in facilities. In August 2022, voters approved a bond proposal funding district-wide improvements, including safety upgrades such as secure entryways and building renovations across school buildings. Prior to that, the district had completed a STEM wing and performing arts center at the high school, with middle school construction ongoing. These investments shape the physical environment students encounter as they move through the district, though the direct impact on Syring's early-grade classrooms would be something a parent could ask about.
For a family with young children, Syring represents a traditional public school pathway starting at the earliest grades, feeding into the Swartz Creek district as students advance. The community is quiet, suburban, and affordable, with an older residential profile and limited commercial activity beyond the main retail corridor. The absence of current testing data is a function of the school's grade range, not an indicator of performance, and parents seeking a clear academic read would need to look to the upper elementary grades once their child progresses.
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