South Redford School District

The South Redford School District serves approximately 2,753 students across 7 schools in Redford, Michigan, including four elementary schools, one middle school, and two high schools, with overall academic rankings placing the district in the 14th percentile statewide.

For parents exploring this district, Lee M Thurston High School stands out as the clear bright spot, boasting an exceptional 98.4% graduation rate with zero dropouts—far exceeding state averages—and outperforming its alternative counterpart, SOAR Academic Institute, in nearly every academic metric. At the elementary level, Jane Addams Elementary School shows the most promising upward trajectory, improving from the 25th to 33rd percentile and achieving the district's only 2-star rating during that period, while Vandenberg Elementary School demonstrates strong 5th-grade ELA performance at 42.9% despite serving the highest-poverty population. The middle school, John D Pierce Middle School, shows moderate performance with 8th-grade ELA proficiency reaching 46%, though math proficiency remains concerning across all grade levels.

The district faces significant challenges, particularly a severe chronic absenteeism crisis at 44.3% versus the state's 27.9%, and critically low math proficiency—high school SAT math proficiency sits at just 5.3% at Lee M Thurston, a staggering 22 points below the state average. Resource allocation appears uneven, with Thomas Jefferson Elementary School spending the most per student ($23,075) yet ranking in the bottom quartile, while SOAR Academic Institute receives the least funding ($12,116) with a troubling 30.4:1 student-teacher ratio. However, the district excels at keeping students on track to graduation, with even SOAR's 85.8% rate exceeding the state average. Parents should note that year-over-year test scores fluctuate significantly across schools, suggesting small cohort sizes may influence results, and that Fisher Elementary School outperforms several peers despite serving a higher-poverty population, indicating that school-specific factors beyond demographics play a meaningful role in student success.