Pasteur Elementary School

Pasteur Elementary School in Detroit, MI, is a smaller school serving 310 students from Pre-K through 7th grade within the Detroit Public Schools Community District, where nearly 90% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.

Pasteur is showing real signs of momentum. After years of ranking in the lower quartile of Michigan schools, its overall state ranking jumped from the 12th percentile in 2024-2025 to the 27th percentile in 2025-2026—its highest point in recent history. That kind of year-over-year leap is rare among nearby schools. For context, Schulze Academy for Technology and Arts (2nd percentile) and Mary McLeod Bethune ElementaryMiddle School (6th percentile) have remained stagnant or declined. Pasteur also stands out in specific subjects: its 5th graders posted proficiency rates of 26.9% in Science and 38.5% in Social Studies—more than double the district average and, for Social Studies, above the state average. The school also earns high marks for its work with its African American students, ranking in the 61st percentile statewide for that group in 2025-2026, a dramatic improvement from the 21st percentile just two years prior.

Still, challenges remain. Chronic absenteeism affects nearly 6 in 10 students—more than double the state average—and there is a notable gap in outcomes between female students (55th percentile) and male students (30th percentile). The school spends significantly more per student ($26,521) than nearby high-performing Bates Academy ($19,706) and maintains a lower student-teacher ratio (11.6 vs. 18.3), suggesting a heavy investment in resources and smaller class sizes. While Pasteur's overall proficiency still trails the state, its recent gains—especially for African American students and in content areas like Science and Social Studies—point to a school that is finding strategies that work, even under difficult circumstances.