Best Elementary Schools in Michigan for African American Students

Check out our new feature available only on SchoolDigger: rankings for different groups of students in Michigan!

Every year, the Michigan Department of Education shares test results for various student groups in each school. We use these results to find out which schools do best for each group and list them from the best to the worst.

Additionally, we also compare the performance of the subgroup to the performance of the school as a whole. This makes it easy to see if, for example, African American students are overperforming or underperforming their peers in each school.

Year after year, SchoolDigger is always the first to publish Michigan test scores and rankings. Other sites use stale test score data that are several years old! Be in the know with the very latest performance metrics.

The list is updated annually upon the release of the M-Step test scores by the Michigan Department of Education. The most recent update was on Thursday, August 28, 2025.

Be the first to know when we post new test scores and rankings!

School														Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2024)							Ranking (African American vs All Students - 2025)					ID
Rank (of 369)	School	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Disc Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Per Pupil Expenditures: Total	Personnel from Federal Funds	Non-Personnel from Federal Funds	Total from Federal Funds	Personnel from State and Local Funds	Non-Personnel from State and Local Funds	Total from State and Local Funds	Statewide Rank Percentile (African American)	Statewide Rank Percentile (All Students)	Rank Percentile Difference from All Students	SchoolDigger Rating (African American)	SchoolDigger Rating (All Students)	ID
1	South Arbor Charter Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	8200 Carpenter Rd	Ypsilanti	48197	Washtenaw County	South Arbor Charter Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(734) 528-2821	800	41	19.7	31.9%	359 (44.9%)	146 (18.3%)	65 (8.1%)	133 (16.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	97 (12.1%)	$11,183			$832			$10,351	99.7%	96.4%	3.36%			260022301182
2	Bates Academy	Public	PK, KG-8	19701 Wyoming St	Detroit	48221	Wayne County	Detroit Public Schools Community District	No	No	No	Yes	(313) 494-7000	773	42	18.3	61.1%	0 (0.0%)	770 (99.6%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	$18,447			$1,840			$16,607	99.5%	92.3%	7.12%			260110307481
3	Pembroke Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	19940 Mansfield St	Detroit	48235	Wayne County	Pembroke Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(313) 243-0092	390	26	15	84.6%	1 (0.3%)	340 (87.2%)	7 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	40 (10.3%)	$17,851			$2,081			$15,770	99.2%	89.4%	9.74%			260111608870
4	Handley School	Public, Magnet	PK, KG-5	1300 Passolt St	Saginaw	48602	Saginaw County	Saginaw School District of the City of	No	Yes	No	No	(989) 399-4250	370	18	20.5	42.7%	144 (38.9%)	111 (30.0%)	32 (8.6%)	48 (13.0%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	33 (8.9%)	$21,214			$2,955			$18,259	98.9%	98.5%	0.46%			263039006662
5	Cross Creek Charter Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	7701 Kalamazoo Ave SE	Byron Center	49315	Kent County	Cross Creek Charter Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(616) 656-4000	809	39	20.9	41.3%	466 (57.6%)	76 (9.4%)	107 (13.2%)	73 (9.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	87 (10.8%)	$11,335			$711			$10,624	98.6%	97.2%	1.40%			260015000911
6	Northglade Montessori School	Public, Magnet	PK, KG-5	1914 Cobb Ave	Kalamazoo	49007	Kalamazoo County	Kalamazoo Public Schools	No	Yes	No	Yes	(269) 337-0700	271	14	19.2	46.1%	139 (51.3%)	77 (28.4%)	7 (2.6%)	9 (3.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	39 (14.4%)	$18,168			$4,577			$13,592	98.4%	83.7%	14.70%			261995005667
7	South Canton Scholars Charter Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	3085 S Canton Center Rd	Canton	48188	Wayne County	South Canton Scholars Charter Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(734) 398-5658	822	41	20.2	46.8%	224 (27.3%)	268 (32.6%)	35 (4.3%)	186 (22.6%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	108 (13.1%)	$11,782			$963			$10,819	98.1%	90.4%	7.71%			260099708216
8	Keystone Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	47925 Bemis Rd	Belleville	48111	Wayne County	Keystone Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(734) 697-9470	721	39	18.3	53.1%	442 (61.3%)	127 (17.6%)	52 (7.2%)	9 (1.2%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	90 (12.5%)	$11,891			$1,367			$10,524	97.8%	83.1%	14.77%			260028901655
9	The School at Marygrove	Public, Alternative	K-12	8425 W McNichols Rd	Detroit	48221	Wayne County	Detroit Public Schools Community District	No	No	No	Yes	(313) 335-1331	606	38	15.9	68.3%	8 (1.3%)	597 (98.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	$19,175			$2,161			$17,015	97.6%	66.5%	31.10%			260110308932
10	University Elementary School Academy	Public, Magnet	PK, KG-5	19301 W 12 Mile Rd	Lathrup Village	48076	Oakland County	Southfield Public School District	No	Yes	No	Yes	(248) 746-8590	312	15	20.6	42.6%	3 (1.0%)	296 (94.9%)	5 (1.6%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.6%)	$19,250			$1,667			$17,583	97.3%	73.1%	24.17%			263231006778

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for Michigan

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts Cities

New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for MI student subgroups:

Female Students Male Students Asian Students Hispanic Students White Students Multi-racial Students English Language Learner Students Special Education Students Low Socio Economic Status Students

About our rankings:

Schooldigger calculates school rankings based on M-Step English Language Arts, M-Step Math, M-Step Science, M-Step Social Studies test scores released by the Michigan Department of Education.
These rankings were last updated on August 28, 2025, and are based on the most recent test scores available. We update rankings as we receive new test scores from the Michigan Department of Education, usually on a yearly basis.
Our sources of data include the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education and the Michigan Department of Education.
For more information about our ranking process, please see our Ranking FAQ. Details about our methodology are here.

Educational resources:

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): Transforming Education in America

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on Education

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Michigan Department of Education.