Best Public Schools in Canton, MI

There are 21 schools in Canton, Michigan, serving students from Pre-K through 12th grade, with the vast majority belonging to the Plymouth-Canton Community Schools district, alongside several charter academies and one school in the Wayne-Westland Community School District.

For parents, the standout overall performer is Gallimore Elementary School, which has historically ranked #2 in the state and shows exceptional recent science and social studies proficiency with the lowest poverty rate in the area. Among high schools, Plymouth High School leads in SAT reading and science, while Salem High School boasts the highest graduation rate at 97.5%. All three traditional high schools rank in the top 5% statewide, though math proficiency lags significantly behind verbal scores across the board. In the charter sector, Achieve Charter Academy and South Canton Scholars Charter Academy achieve results comparable to affluent public schools despite serving higher-poverty populations and spending less per student. Canton Preparatory High School has shown remarkable improvement, jumping from the 57th to 79th percentile in two years.

The most significant challenges are concentrated at WalkerWinter Elementary School, which has the highest chronic absenteeism rate (42.1%) and proficiency rates below 25% in most subjects. Within the Plymouth-Canton district itself, there are stark disparities—5th-grade math proficiency ranges from nearly 60% at top schools like Tonda Elementary School to below 26% at Hulsing Elementary School. Liberty Middle School consistently outperforms Discovery Middle School, particularly in math. Star International Academy serves the highest-need population (88% free/reduced lunch) yet shows pockets of strength and improving rankings. The data reveals that while poverty correlates with performance, school-level factors can meaningfully overcome these barriers, offering families genuine choice with widely varying outcomes.