The top reported proficiency rate is 34% in English language arts. The lowest is 17% in Social studies.
Original Research by School Decision on Garfield Elementary School
Garfield Elementary School sits on Superior Boulevard in Wyandotte, a Downriver suburb of Detroit laid out on a compact grid of numbered streets and tree-named cross streets. The school is part of the Wyandotte School District of the City of, a district where all schools are named for U.S. presidents. It serves kindergarten through fifth grade as a regular public school with an enrollment typical for an elementary building of its grade band, and its students feed into the broader Wyandotte system that culminates at Theodore Roosevelt High School downtown along Biddle Avenue.
The student body is majority white, with a sizable Hispanic population and smaller shares of students identifying as Black, multiracial, Asian, or Native American. A substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which reflects the working-class character of the surrounding community. Information on English learners and students with individualized education programs was not available in the data we received, so those pieces of the student-support picture are gaps a parent may want to ask the school about directly.
On Michigan's M-STEP assessments, Garfield's results sit above the midpoint among Wayne County districts when averaging proficiency across all tested subjects and grades. The strongest results come in English language arts, where upper-grade proficiency rises notably from third to fifth grade. Math proficiency is more modest and trends the other direction, with fewer students reaching proficiency in fifth grade than in third. Fifth-grade science lands in a middle range, while social studies is the softest area, with fewer students meeting the proficiency bar. These are results that place the school above the county midpoint overall, but the math and social studies numbers are ones a parent may want to look into further with the school, particularly whether interventions are in place for the upper elementary grades.
Because Garfield is an elementary school, there is no graduation rate to report, and that metric simply does not apply at this grade level. Chronic absenteeism data was also not available. The data set did not include information on course offerings, extracurricular programs, staffing ratios, or discipline, so those dimensions of school environment remain unaddressed here.
Wyandotte itself is a city with deep industrial roots, once home to iron works, shipyards, and chemical production. Much of that industry is gone, though BASF still operates a chemical complex on the north riverfront. The city owns its own municipal utilities, providing electricity, water, and cable through Wyandotte Municipal Services, which is itself a local employer. The Detroit River forms the eastern boundary, and Bishop Park along the waterfront is the largest of the city's parks. The Wyandotte Boat Club hosts regattas and offers indoor rowing tanks. Two SMART bus routes pass through the city. The downtown corridor along Biddle Avenue has street-level storefronts and City Hall anchoring the civic core. The housing stock is older, dating to the 19th century in places, and the city is largely built out with little room for expansion. The population has been relatively stable, with an aging demographic profile and a modest share of households with children under eighteen.
The housing market around Garfield is affordable relative to both state and national benchmarks. Home values in the school's zip code are well below the Michigan median and considerably below the national median, and rents are similarly modest. The county-level market has seen a recent increase in active listings alongside easing demand, which suggests buyers have more inventory to work with than in recent years. The estimated monthly mortgage on a typical home in this area is only slightly higher than typical rent, making ownership accessible for many families who can manage a down payment.
Garfield Elementary is a neighborhood school in a walkable, older suburb with affordable housing and a riverfront setting. Its ELA results are a relative bright spot, its overall proficiency stands above the Wayne County midpoint, and its math and social studies results are areas where a family might seek more detail. For parents weighing a working-class community with strong civic infrastructure and municipal services, Garfield offers a grounded public-school option within the Wyandotte district.
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