Vernor Elementary School

Vernor Elementary School in Detroit, MI, serves 340 students from Pre-K through 8th grade in a community where over 92% of families qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and the school currently holds a 1-star rating with a 13th percentile rank statewide.

Vernor sits in the middle of a striking academic landscape. Within a 1.5-mile radius, families can choose between schools performing in the top 10% of the state, like Bates Academy and Pembroke Academy, and schools in the bottom 5%, such as Schulze Academy for Technology and Arts and MacDowell Preparatory Academy. For example, in 4th-grade ELA, Vernor's proficiency rate is 21.6%, compared to 77.2% at Bates and 76% at Pembroke—a gap of over 50 percentage points. However, Vernor generally outperforms its lowest-achieving neighbors; in 5th-grade ELA, Vernor's 22% proficiency rate exceeds Schulze's 10.3% and Bow Elementary Middle School's 13.6%. Notably, the high-performing schools nearby are not traditional Detroit Public Schools Community District schools, while Vernor, Schulze, and Bow all are, suggesting district-wide challenges rather than isolated school issues.

The most critical factor for parents to understand is chronic absenteeism. Vernor's rate stands at 64.5%, far above the state average of 27.9% and dramatically higher than Bates Academy's 15.0%. This means a majority of students are missing significant instructional time, which directly correlates with low proficiency rates. Interestingly, spending is not the differentiator—Vernor spends over $20,000 per student, comparable to higher-performing schools like Bates ($19,706). One bright spot: Vernor ranked in the 38th percentile for African American students statewide (2 stars), better than its overall rank. The school also showed notable strength in 5th-grade Social Studies in 2023-2024, with proficiency four times higher than the district average. For parents, addressing attendance would likely be the single most impactful step toward improving outcomes at Vernor.