Summary:
Creative Montessori Academy is the sole elementary school in the Creative Montessori Academy district, serving students in Pre-K through 8th grade in Southgate, Michigan, with a total enrollment of 759 students and a majority low-income population (60.47% free/reduced lunch).
This school presents a mixed picture for parents to consider. The most striking finding is a "reverse achievement gap" in the upper grades: 7th graders outperform the state average in both English Language Arts (46.2% vs. 38.4%) and Math (38.5% vs. 33.3%), suggesting the Montessori model may yield cumulative benefits for students who stay enrolled. However, early grades show significant struggles, particularly in 3rd grade math, where only 7.0% of students are proficient compared to the state's 42.9%—a massive 35.9-point gap. The school's overall ranking has declined steadily over three years, from the 24th percentile in 2023-2024 to the 22nd percentile in 2025-2026, placing it in the lower third of Michigan districts with a 2-star rating.
Parents should be aware of extreme year-over-year volatility in test scores, including a 32-point drop in 8th grade science proficiency (from 52.3% to 20.3%) and an 18.8-point jump in 7th grade math, which may indicate small cohort sizes or inconsistent instructional quality. Chronic absenteeism affects 33.5% of students (nearly 1 in 3), well above the state's 27.9%, and likely contributes to academic challenges. On a positive note, 8th graders scored near the state average on the PSAT ELA (64.4% vs. 64.8%) and showed relative strength in 8th grade social studies (47.5% vs. 50.3%). With a student-teacher ratio of 18.7:1 and per-student spending of $12,302, the school's resources appear adequate, but early-grade math intervention and attendance improvement should be top priorities for families considering this school.
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