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Sylvester Elementary School

Q: Is Sylvester Elementary School a good school?

Sylvester Elementary School ranks 860 th of 1492 Michigan elementary schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 2 stars out of 5.

Public Grades 2-5

860^th

SchoolDigger Rank ?

of 1,492 Michigan Elementary Schools

Better than 42% of Michigan elementary schools

Summary

Sylvester Elementary School in Berrien Springs, MI, serves 394 students in grades 2 through 5 as part of the Berrien Springs Public Schools district, a community where over 62% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.

Sylvester shows a mixed but interesting performance profile. The school currently holds a 2-star rating (42nd percentile), a slight dip from last year's 3-star rating. Its most notable strength is exceptional performance with African American students, ranking in the 70th percentile statewide—a 4-star result that stands out as a genuine bright spot. However, this success contrasts sharply with other areas. The school ranks in the bottom 12th percentile for Special Education students, and its Hispanic student performance has dropped dramatically from the 54th percentile to the 27th percentile in just one year. Academically, results vary by subject and grade: 4th-grade math proficiency (44.4%) actually exceeds the state average (39.4%), while 5th-grade social studies (16.5%) falls well below the state average (27.5%).

One of the most striking findings is the school's spending. At $19,600 per student, Sylvester invests far more than nearby schools like Moccasin Elementary School ($11,519) or Clarke School ($11,847), yet this higher investment doesn't translate into higher test scores. In fact, Moccasin achieves significantly better results while spending nearly $8,000 less per student. Chronic absenteeism is another concern: while Sylvester's rate of 14.1% is below the state average (27.9%), it's double the district's own rate of 7.0%, suggesting attendance is a bigger challenge at this school than at others in Buchanan Community Schools or the surrounding area. For parents, this school offers genuine strengths for certain student groups but also reveals clear areas where improvement is needed, particularly in supporting students with special needs and addressing recent declines in performance for Hispanic students.

394

Students ?

14.5

Student/teacher ratio ?

$19,600

Per pupil spending ?

62.2%

Free/reduced lunch eligible (2024-25) ?

All students in Michigan receive free school meals.

1 Sylvester Ave
Berrien Springs, MI 49103-1126

(269) 471-7198

District: Berrien Springs Public Schools

Students who attend Sylvester Elementary School usually attend:

Middle:	Berrien Springs Middle School
High:	Berrien Springs High School

Racial breakdown:

White:

42.1%

African American:

31.0%

Hispanic:

14.5%

See top rated Michigan elementary schools

Compare Sylvester Elementary School to nearby elementary schools!

At a glance

▲ Ranking trend: Rebounding — 25th percentile in 2021 → 42nd in 2026

Strengths

✓Ranking is rebounding — up to 42nd (2026) from a 25th-percentile low (2021)

Worth a look

!Test scores below the Michigan average (33% vs 38% meeting standards)

!Some student groups rank well below the school's overall statewide standing

!Social Studies scores 11 pts below the Michigan average

Students meeting standards (2025-2026) ?

This school33%

District avg34%

Michigan avg38%

860^th of 1,492

Michigan public elementary schools ?

Bottom 42%▼ down 11 pts since 2016

From top 47% (2016) to bottom 42% (2026)

See the entire ranking list of Michigan Elementary Schools →

★★★★★

SchoolDigger rating ?

341^st of 625Berrien Springs Public Schools among Michigan districts

Statewide rank percentile over time (100 = the top-ranked school in the state; click a legend item to add a student group)

Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	Michigan percentile	Rating
2026	40.0	860 of 1492	42.4%	★★☆☆☆
2025	48.4	745 of 1488	49.9%	★★★☆☆
2024	38.8	872 of 1486	41.3%	★★☆☆☆
2023	33.8	940 of 1470	36.1%	★★☆☆☆
2022	35.3	835 of 1344	37.9%	★★☆☆☆
2021	25.8	870 of 1153	24.5%	★☆☆☆☆
2019	26.2	1036 of 1408	26.4%	★☆☆☆☆
2018	43.0	899 of 1448	37.9%	★★☆☆☆
2017	46.5	745 of 1466	49.2%	★★☆☆☆
2016	54.2	721 of 1548	53.4%	★★★☆☆
2015	61.0	610 of 1580	61.4%	★★★☆☆
2014	63.0	577 of 1533	62.4%	★★★☆☆
2013	69.5	448 of 1563	71.3%	★★★★☆
2012	70.6	433 of 1566	72.3%	★★★★☆
2011	59.8	794 of 1552	48.8%	★★☆☆☆
2010	48.4	1097 of 1552	29.3%	★☆☆☆☆
2009	59.7	804 of 1589	49.4%	★★☆☆☆
2008	60.1	770 of 1577	51.2%	★★★☆☆
2007	65.2	582 of 1565	62.8%	★★★☆☆
2006	51.0	952 of 1545	38.4%	★★☆☆☆

African American

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	Michigan percentile	Rating
2026	58.5	115 of 388	70.4%	★★★★☆
2025	65.0	77 of 369	79.1%	★★★★☆
2024	50.2	140 of 348	59.8%	★★★☆☆
2023	45.9	142 of 321	55.8%	★★★☆☆
2022	60.7	46 of 158	70.9%	★★★★☆
2021	47.5	24 of 51	52.9%	★★★☆☆
2019	37.3	129 of 212	39.2%	★★☆☆☆
2018	55.3	166 of 475	65.1%	★★★☆☆

English Language Learner

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	Michigan percentile	Rating
2026	45.9	88 of 188	53.2%	★★★☆☆
2025	53.8	70 of 173	59.5%	★★★☆☆
2024	45.7	102 of 184	44.6%	★★☆☆☆
2023	37.1	113 of 180	37.2%	★★☆☆☆
2022	45.2	52 of 98	46.9%	★★☆☆☆
2021	64.4	15 of 42	64.3%	★★★☆☆
2019	49.3	61 of 117	47.9%	★★☆☆☆
2018	56.5	105 of 270	61.1%	★★★☆☆

Female

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	Michigan percentile	Rating
2026	32.8	863 of 1343	35.7%	★★☆☆☆
2025	40.6	760 of 1338	43.2%	★★☆☆☆
2024	32.0	901 of 1342	32.9%	★★☆☆☆
2023	34.6	849 of 1321	35.7%	★★☆☆☆
2022	30.5	800 of 1106	27.7%	★☆☆☆☆
2021	21.3	765 of 902	15.2%	★☆☆☆☆
2019	24.5	917 of 1171	21.7%	★☆☆☆☆
2018	45.7	834 of 1443	42.2%	★★☆☆☆

Hispanic

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	Michigan percentile	Rating
2026	28.0	164 of 225	27.1%	★☆☆☆☆
2025	47.9	97 of 209	53.6%	★★★☆☆
2024	48.8	77 of 201	61.7%	★★★☆☆
2023	44.9	90 of 188	52.1%	★★★☆☆
2022	68.5	19 of 86	77.9%	★★★★☆
2021	69.8	8 of 30	73.3%	★★★★☆
2019	59.1	27 of 86	68.6%	★★★★☆
2018	48.6	101 of 222	54.5%	★★★☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	Michigan percentile	Rating
2026	42.1	747 of 1352	44.7%	★★☆☆☆
2025	58.3	483 of 1346	64.1%	★★★☆☆
2024	37.6	857 of 1381	37.9%	★★☆☆☆
2023	37.3	848 of 1350	37.2%	★★☆☆☆
2022	44.2	591 of 1099	46.2%	★★☆☆☆
2021	28.8	576 of 749	23.1%	★☆☆☆☆
2019	36.4	759 of 1134	33.1%	★★☆☆☆
2018	53.0	671 of 1397	52.0%	★★★☆☆

Male

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	Michigan percentile	Rating
2026	37.0	846 of 1372	38.3%	★★☆☆☆
2025	46.1	714 of 1366	47.7%	★★☆☆☆
2024	34.9	858 of 1347	36.3%	★★☆☆☆
2023	25.2	982 of 1334	26.4%	★☆☆☆☆
2022	31.6	783 of 1139	31.3%	★★☆☆☆
2021	22.8	754 of 915	17.6%	★☆☆☆☆
2019	26.5	907 of 1196	24.2%	★☆☆☆☆
2018	37.3	947 of 1446	34.5%	★★☆☆☆

Multi-racial

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	Michigan percentile	Rating
2024	35.9	46 of 78	41.0%	★★☆☆☆

Special Education

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	Michigan percentile	Rating
2025	20.3	222 of 252	11.9%	★☆☆☆☆
2023	10.4	194 of 195	0.5%	☆☆☆☆☆
2018	31.3	297 of 403	26.3%	★☆☆☆☆

White

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	Michigan percentile	Rating
2026	47.8	613 of 1199	48.9%	★★☆☆☆
2025	53.7	541 of 1206	55.1%	★★★☆☆
2024	46.9	624 of 1204	48.2%	★★☆☆☆
2023	39.2	748 of 1198	37.6%	★★☆☆☆
2022	48.9	561 of 1102	49.1%	★★☆☆☆
2021	32.5	699 of 1005	30.4%	★★☆☆☆
2019	31.6	803 of 1128	28.8%	★☆☆☆☆
2018	45.8	699 of 1253	44.2%	★★☆☆☆

How student groups rank statewide ? (each group's percentile vs the same group at other schools — higher is better; the +/- beside each compares the group with this school's overall percentile)

African American (2026)70th percentile+28 vs school

English Language Learner (2026)53rd percentile+11 vs school

White (2026)49th percentile+7 vs school

Low Socio Economic Status (2026)45th percentile~ school

Multi-racial (2024)41st percentile~ school

Male (2026)38th percentile-4 vs school

Female (2026)36th percentile-7 vs school

Hispanic (2026)27th percentile-15 vs school

Special Education (2025)12th percentile-38 vs school

By subject vs Michigan (2025-2026) ?

Math37%~ state avg

English Language Arts36%-5 vs state

Science33%-7 vs state

Social Studies16%-11 vs state

★

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Schools Near Sylvester Elementary School

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Ranking:

E Elementary M Middle H High A Alternative P Private

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Vaccination Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2026)				Ranking (2025)				PSAT English Language Arts (2026)	PSAT Mathematics (2026)	M-Step English Language Arts (2026)					M-Step Math (2026)					M-Step Science (2026)		M-Step Social Studies (2026)		Vaccination (2025-26)		Per Pupil Expenditures (2025)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/reduced lunch (2024-25)	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2026)	Statewide Rank (2026)	State Percentile (2026)	SchoolDigger Rating (2026)	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	Rank Change from Previous Year	PSAT English Language Arts 8th Grade	PSAT Mathematics 8th Grade	M-Step English Language Arts 3rd Grade	M-Step English Language Arts 4th Grade	M-Step English Language Arts 5th Grade	M-Step English Language Arts 6th Grade	M-Step English Language Arts 7th Grade	M-Step Math 3rd Grade	M-Step Math 4th Grade	M-Step Math 5th Grade	M-Step Math 6th Grade	M-Step Math 7th Grade	M-Step Science 5th Grade	M-Step Science 8th Grade	M-Step Social Studies 5th Grade	M-Step Social Studies 8th Grade	Vaccination: Kindergartners complete for all required vaccines	Vaccination: Exemption rate	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
Sylvester Elementary School	Public	2-5	1 Sylvester Ave	Berrien Springs	49103	Berrien County	Berrien Springs Public Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(269) 471-7198	394	27	14.5	62.2%	166 (42.1%)	122 (31.0%)	57 (14.5%)	13 (3.3%)	1 (0.3%)	5 (1.3%)	30 (7.6%)	40	860^th of 1492 public elementary schools	42.4%		48.4	745^th of 1488 public elementary schools	49.9%	115			32.5	39.3	35.1			35.3	44.4	30.8			33.1		16.5				$19,600	$1,090	$18,510
Mars Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-2	1 Sylvester Ave	Berrien Springs	49103	Berrien County	Berrien Springs Public Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(269) 471-1836	338	28	12.0	60.1%	133 (39.3%)	95 (28.1%)	56 (16.6%)	17 (5.0%)	5 (1.5%)	7 (2.1%)	25 (7.4%)								(n/a)																	92%	1.1%	$18,750	$873	$17,876
Lybrook Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	6238 W Main St	Eau Claire	49111	Berrien County	Eau Claire Public Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(269) 461-6191	233	18	12.7	91.0%	74 (31.8%)	75 (32.2%)	81 (34.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.3%)	15.1	1273^rd of 1492 public elementary schools	14.7%		19.9	1158^th of 1488 public elementary schools	22.2%	115			15.2	27.8	23.1			12.1	25.0	12.8			15.4		1471.5		94.7%	2.6%	$18,284	$2,268	$16,017
River School	Public	PK, KG-8	4439 River Rd	Sodus	49126	Berrien County	Sodus Township S/D #5	No	No	No	Yes	(269) 925-6757	70	4	17.5	82.9%	34 (48.6%)	15 (21.4%)	13 (18.6%)	2 (2.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (8.6%)								(n/a)																	85.7%	14.3%	$13,414	$1,529	$11,885
Hollywood Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	143 E John Beers Rd	Stevensville	49127	Berrien County	Lakeshore School District (Berrien)	No	No	No	Yes	(269) 428-1414	377	25	15.2	37.4%	312 (82.8%)	16 (4.2%)	31 (8.2%)	7 (1.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	10 (2.7%)	85.6	188^th of 1492 public elementary schools	87.4%		82.6	236^th of 1488 public elementary schools	84.1%	48			51.5	58.5	69.6			59.1	52.8	65.2			68.1		44.9		93%	3.5%	$16,319	$2,109	$14,210
Moccasin Elementary School	Public	2-4	410 Moccasin St	Buchanan	49107	Berrien County	Buchanan Community Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(269) 695-8408	354	19	18.8	57.1%	287 (81.1%)	15 (4.2%)	19 (5.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	33 (9.3%)	73.8	359^th of 1492 public elementary schools	75.9%		67.5	449^th of 1488 public elementary schools	69.8%	90			54.1	50.4				61.3	46.1										$11,519	$417	$11,102
Clarke School	Public	PK, KG-5	515 E Glenlord Rd	Saint Joseph	49085	Berrien County	St. Joseph Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(269) 926-3600	462	22	21.3	20.1%	340 (73.6%)	19 (4.1%)	32 (6.9%)	42 (9.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	29 (6.3%)	84.5	211^th of 1492 public elementary schools	85.9%		83.5	225^th of 1488 public elementary schools	84.9%	14			47.3	64.9	60.8			52.7	62.3	50.6			72.2		54.4		94.9%	3.4%	$11,847	$555	$11,292
Ottawa Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-1	109 Ottawa St	Buchanan	49107	Berrien County	Buchanan Community Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(269) 695-8409	230	15	15.1	62.2%	195 (84.8%)	5 (2.2%)	10 (4.3%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.7%)	1 (0.4%)	15 (6.5%)								(n/a)																	89.8%	5.6%	$15,527	$893	$14,635
Northside Child Development Center	Public	PK-K	2020 N 5th St	Niles	49120	Berrien County	Niles Community Schools	No	No	No	No	(269) 683-1982	13	3	4.4	23.1%	11 (84.6%)	1 (7.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (7.7%)								(n/a)																			$27,161	$10,353	$16,808
Countryside Academy Elementary	Public, Charter	K-5	4722 Meadowbrook Rd	Benton Harbor	49022	Berrien County	Countryside Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(269) 944-3319	384	24	16.3	83.1%	27 (7.0%)	213 (55.5%)	125 (32.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (4.7%)	20.5	1168^th of 1492 public elementary schools	21.7%		17.9	1198^th of 1488 public elementary schools	19.5%	30			12.2	12.5	39.6			20.4	16.1	13.2			28.3		22.6		92.3%	5.1%	$14,523	$2,186	$12,337

Frequently Asked Questions about Sylvester Elementary School

What is the racial makeup of Sylvester Elementary School?

Students at Sylvester Elementary School are 42% White, 31% African American, 14% Hispanic, 8% Two or more races, 3% Asian, 1% Pacific Islander.

How many students attend Sylvester Elementary School?

In the 2024-25 school year, 394 students attended Sylvester Elementary School.

Is Sylvester Elementary School a good school?

Sylvester Elementary School ranks 860^th of 1492 Michigan elementary schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 2 stars out of 5.

What schools do graduates of Sylvester Elementary School attend?

Students who attend Sylvester Elementary School usually go on to attend:

Middle : Berrien Springs Middle School
High : Berrien Springs High School

What district is Sylvester Elementary School in?

Berrien Springs Public Schools

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Latest Michigan data All new data »

2024–25 school spending data (updated)NewNov 2, 2026

2021–22 through 2025–26 immunization rates (updated)Oct 19, 2026

2025–26 M-Step, PSAT & SAT test scoresSep 4, 2026

2024–25 dropout rates & graduation ratesJun 13, 2026

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Michigan Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.