Van Buren Public Schools

Van Buren Public Schools serves approximately 4,206 students across 7 schools in the Belleville, Michigan area, including 4 elementary schools, 2 middle schools, and 1 high school, spanning grades PK-12. The district overall ranks in the 32nd percentile statewide, but performance varies dramatically between schools, with one clear standout and several others struggling to meet state averages.

Savage Road Elementary School is the district's clear success story, ranking in the 69th percentile with a 3-star rating. Its 4th grade math proficiency (58.9%) is nearly double the district average (29.7%), and its chronic absenteeism rate (15.3%) is less than half the district average (35.8%). This is particularly impressive given that 42% of its students qualify for free/reduced lunch. At the other end of the spectrum, Rawsonville Elementary School ranks in the 27th percentile with a 1-star rating, serving the highest poverty population (72.5% free/reduced lunch) and showing 3rd grade ELA proficiency at just 15.7%—22.5 points below the state average. The other two elementary schools, Tyler Road Elementary School and Edgemont Elementary School, both cluster in the 26th-29th percentile range, creating a two-tier elementary system where Savage Road dramatically outperforms its peers.

Middle and high school performance reveals systemic challenges. Owen Intermediate School shows a troubling decline from 5th to 6th grade, with ELA proficiency dropping from 29.8% to 18.4%. McBride Middle School has a 42.6% chronic absenteeism rate, and math proficiency across all middle school grades hovers between 18-24%, well below state averages. Belleville High School posts an 82.6% graduation rate and a dropout rate (5.6%) better than the state average, but only 16.7% of 11th graders are proficient in SAT math, and 41.9% of students are chronically absent. Notably, the two highest-spending schools (Edgemont at $20,925/student and Rawsonville at $19,077/student) are among the lowest performers, while Savage Road achieves the best results with the third-lowest spending ($16,110/student)—suggesting that school culture and attendance strategies matter more than resource allocation alone.