Marquette ElementaryMiddle School

Marquette ElementaryMiddle School is a public school in Detroit, MI, serving 422 students in grades PK through 8 as part of the Detroit Public Schools Community District.

The most significant challenge facing Marquette is a severe attendance crisis. In the most recent school year, 80.7% of students were chronically absent—nearly three times the state average of 27.9% and well above the district average of 60.9%. This rate is also higher than nearby Detroit schools like Ronald Brown Academy (75.3%) and Wayne Elementary School (73.6%). The contrast with schools just a few miles away in the Grosse Pointe Public Schools district is stark—Kerby Elementary School has an absenteeism rate of just 8.3%. This attendance crisis has persisted for years, with rates above 75% for four consecutive school years, and it remains the single biggest barrier to academic progress.

Academically, proficiency rates at Marquette are low overall, but there are some encouraging signs. In 4th-grade math, Marquette's proficiency rate of 21.4% actually exceeded the Detroit district average of 15.3%, and 5th-grade math also outperformed the district. The school also shows relative strength in serving its male and African American students, ranking higher for these groups than for its overall population. However, the school spends a substantial $23,028 per student—more than the $17,665 spent at Richard Elementary School in Grosse Pointe, where proficiency rates reach 50-80%. This gap highlights how deeply poverty and instability outside the classroom affect outcomes. With over 90% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, Marquette faces challenges that go far beyond the school walls, making the attendance crisis and its impact on learning the most critical issue for families to understand.