Elementary Schools in Center Line Public Schools

The Center Line Public Schools district in Michigan includes three elementary schools—May V Peck Elementary School, Mark C Roose Elementary School, and Crothers Elementary School—serving grades K-5 in the Warren/Center Line area of Macomb County, with enrollments ranging from 322 to 493 students.

Mark C Roose Elementary School is the clear standout, earning the district’s only 2-star rating and ranking in the 43rd percentile statewide—a dramatic jump from the 19th percentile three years ago. It posts the strongest test scores across all subjects, with 5th grade ELA proficiency at 41% (near the state average) and Social Studies at 34.6%, actually exceeding the state average. Notably, it achieves these results despite having the highest economic disadvantage rate (75.88%) and the highest chronic absenteeism (36.6%). It also spends the most per student ($18,250) and has the lowest student-teacher ratio (14.6:1). In contrast, May V Peck Elementary School is the weakest performer, ranking in the 16th percentile with proficiency rates roughly half of Mark C Roose’s—for example, just 13% in 5th grade Science and 8.7% in 5th grade Math. Crothers Elementary School sits in the middle, ranking in the 24th percentile, but shows alarming declines by 5th grade, with Math proficiency plummeting to just 9.43%.

All three schools serve predominantly high-poverty populations (68-76% free/reduced lunch) and exceed the state’s chronic absenteeism rate of 27.9%. A troubling district-wide pattern shows proficiency declining as students advance from 3rd to 5th grade, except at Mark C Roose, where scores actually improve or hold steady—suggesting that school’s strategies are effectively building skills over time. Year-to-year swings in individual grade scores (e.g., a 15.8-point drop in May V Peck’s 3rd grade ELA) likely reflect small cohort sizes rather than systemic changes. For parents, Mark C Roose demonstrates that strong outcomes are possible even under challenging circumstances, and its higher per-student investment and lower class sizes may offer a model worth replicating across the district.