The top reported proficiency rate is 52% in English language arts. The lowest is 18% in Social studies.
Original Research by School Decision on Haviland Elementary School
Haviland Elementary School sits on Cass Elizabeth Road in Waterford, a sprawling charter township in Oakland County defined by its dozens of named lakes and a suburban landscape of low-density subdivisions and strip-commercial corridors along Dixie Highway and Highland Road. The school serves pre-kindergarten through fifth grade as part of the Waterford School District, and its enrollment sits at a moderate size for an elementary building in this district. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and the student body is mostly white, with meaningful Hispanic, Black, multiracial, and Asian representation. The school's setting is quiet and residential, consistent with Waterford's character as a place without a traditional walkable downtown, where civic life clusters around the Civic Center Complex rather than a main street.
On state assessments, Haviland's results tell a clear and consistent story across the most recent M-STEP cycle. Third graders perform well, with a strong majority proficient in English language arts and more than half proficient in math. Fourth grade results step down but remain middling, with roughly half of students proficient in both subjects. Fifth grade is where performance drops sharply. Math proficiency falls to a low level, social studies proficiency is quite low, and ELA and science proficiency sit below half. The overall proficiency index, which averages results across tested subjects and grades, places Haviland above the midpoint among the comparison set of districts in Oakland County, though the within-school decline from third to fifth grade is the pattern a parent would want to understand. A parent may want to look into this further with the school, particularly what happens instructionally between third and fifth grade, since the data show a consistent slide rather than an isolated dip in one subject.
No participation rate data was available for any of the tested grades, and no chronic absenteeism or attendance figures were provided. Information on staffing, discipline, course access, and Title I status was also absent from the available data. Individualized education program counts and English learner counts were not reported, so the picture of special populations is incomplete. These gaps mean the assessment results stand largely on their own, without context about student mobility, attendance, or specialized services that might help explain the grade-to-grade pattern.
Waterford's housing market is more affordable than much of Oakland County. The typical home value for the school's zip code sits below the county's median listing price and below the national benchmark, though above the state figure. Rents are moderate. Homes in the broader county move at a steady pace, with a moderate median time on market, and the market shows a healthy supply of active listings. For families considering a move near Haviland, housing costs are a relative strength compared with the rest of Oakland County, though the township's car-dependent layout and incomplete sidewalk infrastructure are things to weigh.
The Waterford School District has been in a period of visible change. Publicly reported district decisions include the planned closure of Kettering High School after the 2025-26 year, with consolidation into Mott and Durant, driven by long-term enrollment decline. That does not directly affect Haviland as an elementary school, but it signals a district grappling with shrinking resources and shifting boundaries. Two bond proposals have passed in recent years, one narrowly, funding roof repairs, sidewalk work, safety upgrades, technology, and conversions of classrooms into STEM labs. These investments may benefit Haviland's facilities over time, though specific project allocations were not available.
What Haviland offers is a moderately sized, economically diverse elementary school with real early-grade strength, particularly in third-grade literacy, positioned favorably against county peers on overall proficiency. The fifth-grade slide across multiple subjects is the piece a family should press on. The community around it is residential, lake-oriented, and more affordable than much of Oakland County, with a school district actively restructuring itself around declining enrollment and aging facilities.
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