Lakewood Elementary School, Holland MI

Original Research by School Decision on Lakewood Elementary School

Lakewood Elementary sits in Holland, a mixed-use city on Lake Macatawa near the Lake Michigan shoreline, within the West Ottawa Public School District. The school serves pre-kindergarten through fifth grade as a regular public school. Holland's economy runs on manufacturing, agriculture, tourism, and higher education, with employers like Herman Miller, Haworth, Adient, Johnson Controls, LG Chem, and Kraft Heinz anchoring the local job market. Hope College and Western Theological Seminary add an academic presence near the downtown core along 8th Street, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The city retains a strong Dutch American cultural identity, visible in the annual Tulip Time Festival and tulips planted along streets and around municipal buildings.

Academically, Lakewood posts strong results on Michigan's M-STEP assessments. In English language arts, proficiency rates climb steadily from third grade through fifth, with fifth-grade ELA standing out as particularly high. Math proficiency holds solid across the tested grades, with fourth grade the strongest. Fifth-grade science and social studies results are also healthy. Taken together, the school's overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades places it in the top quartile relative to districts in Ottawa County, a position that reflects consistently above-median performance across the board. No multi-year trend data was available, so it is not possible to say whether these results represent steady performance or recent improvement. Participation rates were also not reported.

The school's enrollment is moderate for an elementary building, with fairly even distribution across grade levels. The student body is predominantly white, with a sizable Hispanic minority and smaller Asian, Black, and multiracial populations. Just over a third of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Information on English learners and students with individualized education programs was not available, so families wanting detail on those services would need to ask the school directly.

Holland's housing market is more expensive than the state benchmark, with typical home values well above the Michigan median and rents that have risen modestly year over year. The price-to-income ratio sits near five times median household income, and estimated monthly mortgage costs exceed typical rents, meaning ownership here carries a premium relative to renting. For families weighing the area, this is a market where buying requires more stretching than in many parts of the state. The broader Ottawa County region is growing, with new industrial investment from battery manufacturing operations and continued tourism-related development.

Within the West Ottawa district, two parent-relevant changes are worth noting. A new K-5 school, Riley Farms Elementary, is opening in fall 2025, expanding capacity and reshaping elementary attendance boundaries in a growing suburban area. Families at Lakewood may want to check whether boundary shifts affect their assignment. The district also opened a new auditorium at West Ottawa High School North in 2024, giving arts programs and community events a dedicated large-scale venue.

On measures beyond test scores, the picture is thinner. Chronic absenteeism data was not available for this school, and no discipline, course access, staffing, or attendance figures were provided. The school does not have a graduation rate, which is expected because it serves only elementary grades. Title I status was also not reported. Where these gaps exist, they reflect missing data rather than any indication of weakness, and a parent may want to look into them further with the school.

What the available evidence shows is an elementary school with consistently strong academic proficiency, a peer environment that is diverse though majority white, and a community anchored by stable manufacturing employment and cultural amenities tied to the city's Dutch heritage. The housing market demands more of families buying in, but the school's academic standing among its Ottawa County peers is a clear strength of the package.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 363%

School 63% · District 39% · ▲ 24 pts above district

▲ 21 pts above state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 470%

School 70% · District 38% · ▲ 32 pts above district

▲ 32 pts above state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

Grade 563%

School 63% · District 33% · ▲ 29 pts above district

▲ 31 pts above state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 370%

School 70% · District 45% · ▲ 25 pts above district

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

Grade 476%

School 76% · District 42% · ▲ 34 pts above district

▲ 35 pts above state median · ▲ 16 pts above county median

Grade 583%

School 83% · District 46% · ▲ 37 pts above district

▲ 40 pts above state median · ▲ 21 pts above county median

Science

Grade 568%

School 68% · District 41% · ▲ 27 pts above district

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

Social studies

Grade 560%

School 60% · District 30% · ▲ 30 pts above district

▲ 32 pts above state median · ▲ 16 pts above county median

This schoolWest Ottawa Public School District, 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-income50%Higher-income80%30 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income63%Higher-income82%20 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income81%Higher-income83%2 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income50%Higher-income70%20 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income44%Higher-income82%39 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income50%Higher-income71%21 pp gap