Summary:
New Branches Charter Academy is a single K-8 charter school in Grand Rapids, MI, serving 345 students in a predominantly low-income community, where nearly 89% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch.
This school tells a story of two very different academic experiences. In the early grades, students face significant challenges. For the 2025-2026 school year, only 10.71% of 3rd graders were proficient in ELA and 14.29% in math, compared to state averages of 38.2% and 42.9%, respectively. This represents a gap of nearly 28 percentage points in both subjects. The 5th grade shows some improvement but still trails the state, with 27.3% proficient in ELA and 12.1% in math. However, a remarkable transformation occurs by middle school. By 7th grade, ELA proficiency reaches 41.7%, actually exceeding the state average of 38.4%. The most impressive gains appear in 8th grade, where students score 41.4% proficient in science and 37.9% proficient in PSAT math, both surpassing state averages. This upward trajectory suggests that while students may enter behind, the school is highly effective at accelerating learning over time.
The school invests heavily in its students, spending $14,420 per pupil and maintaining a favorable 12.6:1 student-teacher ratio. Despite these resources, the school's overall state ranking remains low at 1183rd out of 1492 Michigan schools, largely due to the poor early-grade performance. A major concern is chronic absenteeism, affecting 34.9% of students compared to the state average of 27.9%, which likely impacts foundational learning in grades 3-5. The stark contrast between elementary and middle school performance is the most compelling finding. Parents should know that while the early years may require additional support at home, the school demonstrates a strong "value-add" by 8th grade, suggesting that successful strategies used in upper grades could potentially be replicated earlier to improve outcomes across all grade levels.
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