Henderson Academy

Henderson Academy is a PK-8 school in Detroit, MI, serving 558 students within the Detroit Public Schools Community District, where about 92% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch.

Henderson Academy is currently ranked 1487th out of 1488 schools statewide, placing it in the bottom 0.1% of all Michigan schools. Test scores are critically low across every subject and grade level—for example, only 5.45% of 3rd graders are proficient in math, compared to the state average of 42.9%. The school also faces a severe chronic absenteeism crisis, with 73.6% of students missing significant school days, nearly triple the state average of 27.9%. While this rate has improved from a staggering 91.6% in 2021-2022, it remains far above nearby schools like Oakman Elementary School (26.2%) and McCollough Elementary School (24.6%) in the Dearborn City School District, located less than two miles away.

What makes this situation particularly striking is that Henderson Academy spends about $21,236 per student—more than many higher-performing schools—yet achieves far worse results. For instance, Warrendale Charter Academy spends roughly $6,500 less per student but achieves proficiency rates 2-4 times higher. Similarly, KIPP Detroit Imani Academy, just 1.3 miles away on the same street, serves a similarly high-poverty population but achieves dramatically better 3rd grade results while spending about $9,000 less per student. The key difference appears to be attendance—Oakman Elementary, which serves a comparable student population with similar funding, has a chronic absenteeism rate nearly 50 percentage points lower. While Henderson Academy shows some signs of progress in reducing absenteeism, the school remains in urgent need of intervention to translate improved attendance into better academic outcomes.