The top reported proficiency rate is 19% in English language arts. The lowest is 10% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Bernice Mcdowell Elem School
Bernice McDowell Elementary sits on Brest Street in Taylor, a Downriver suburb of metro Detroit. It is a regular public school in the Taylor School District serving pre-kindergarten through fifth grade, with an enrollment that is modest for its grade band. The student body is predominantly Black and white, with smaller Hispanic, Asian, and multiracial populations. Nearly all students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which places the school among the highest-poverty elementary settings in the area. Data on English learners and students with individualized education programs was not available, so those populations could not be characterized here.
State assessment results from the most recent M-STEP administration paint a clear picture. Proficiency in math is very low across third, fourth, and fifth grades, with only a small fraction of tested students reaching proficient levels in each grade. English language arts shows a similar pattern, though fifth-grade ELA reaches a somewhat higher share of proficient students than the earlier grades. Fifth-grade science and social studies proficiency also sit at low levels. When measured against other districts in Wayne County, the school's overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades lands in the bottom quartile. Trend data was not available, so it is not possible to say whether these results represent a decline, stability, or improvement over time. A parent considering this school may want to ask administration what interventions and supports are in place to move proficiency upward, and how the school is responding to these results.
Because Bernice McDowell is an elementary school, there is no graduation rate to report, and the grade range it serves does not include the tested secondary grades that would produce SAT or ACT results. The school also has no reported data on chronic absenteeism, discipline, course access, or staffing, so those dimensions of school climate and resources could not be assessed here. Title I status was not reported either, though the poverty rate suggests the school likely receives federal support through that channel.
Taylor itself is a sprawling, auto-oriented suburb covering roughly twenty-four square miles. There is no traditional walkable downtown. Civic buildings cluster on Goddard Road, retail lines Eureka Road and Telegraph Road, and Heritage Park serves as the city's primary recreational anchor, hosting youth sports, festivals, and community events. Southland Center is the main retail hub. Major employers include Corewell Health Hospital, the school district, and Wayne County Community College District's Downriver Campus. Housing in Taylor is affordable compared with state and national benchmarks, with typical home values well below the Michigan median and rents that are likewise modest. The market has seen a slight uptick in home values year over year, while rents have risen a bit more sharply. For a family looking at homeownership, the price-to-income ratio sits in a range that many working families in the area can manage.
The Taylor School District offers some pathways worth noting for families thinking ahead. The district operates a Career Technology Center for high school students, providing vocational and technical education options. It also runs the Taylor Virtual Learning Academy for grades six through twelve, which gives families a permanent remote learning alternative as children move beyond elementary school. These are district-level offerings, so a family at Bernice McDowell would access them later in the educational pipeline.
What the data shows is an elementary school serving a high-poverty student population in an affordable, suburban community, with state test results that are currently low relative to both state expectations and neighboring Wayne County districts. The surrounding area offers practical advantages in housing cost and access to regional highways, and the district has built out career and virtual learning options for older students. The academic results at the elementary level are the piece a family would most want to discuss with school leadership before enrolling, to understand what is being done to strengthen instruction and student outcomes.
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