Grand River Academy

Grand River Academy is a public K-8 school in Livonia, MI, serving 727 students and operating as its own independent district, separate from the larger Livonia Public Schools School District that surrounds it.

For parents, the most important takeaway is that Grand River Academy is currently struggling academically, ranking in the bottom 20th percentile statewide. In the most recent school year, only 27.9% of 3rd graders were proficient in English Language Arts and just 18% in Math. This is a stark contrast to nearby schools within the Livonia Public Schools School District—for example, Coolidge Elementary School, located less than two miles away, posted proficiency rates of 66.3% in ELA and 71.4% in Math. The school has also seen a dramatic decline over the past decade, falling from a 72nd percentile ranking in 2016-2017 to its current 17th percentile. One bright spot is 7th-grade ELA, where proficiency reached 36.7%, nearly matching the state average of 38.4%, suggesting some effective strategies may exist that could be applied to other grades.

A critical challenge facing Grand River Academy is chronic absenteeism. Nearly half of the student body (48.8%) is chronically absent, a rate almost four times higher than nearby Webster Elementary School (12.6%). This directly impacts the school's ability to make academic progress. The school also serves a predominantly low-income population, with over 80% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, compared to under 20% at nearby Coolidge Elementary School. While the school spends $13,116 per student—less than some higher-performing neighbors like JA Lanigan Elementary School ($18,023)—the data suggests that addressing attendance and engagement, rather than funding alone, is the most pressing priority for improvement.