Coleman Elementary School

Coleman Elementary School serves 315 students in grades K-6 in the small, rural community of Coleman, Michigan, as part of the Coleman Community Schools district. The school has shown a modest upward trend in recent years, moving from the 18th percentile statewide in 2021-2022 to the 30th percentile in 2025-2026, though it still trails the state median. About 63% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch, and chronic absenteeism—while greatly improved from a pandemic-era peak of 53.8%—remains a challenge at 24.1%, meaning nearly one in four students misses too much school.

Academically, Coleman consistently scores below state averages in both English Language Arts and math, with proficiency gaps of roughly 10 to 17 percentage points across most grade levels. One notable pattern is a "middle grades slump": ELA proficiency drops steadily from 31.3% in 3rd grade to just 16.7% by 6th grade. The school also shows significant year-to-year swings in test scores—4th grade math jumped from 19.1% to 32.6% in one year, while 3rd grade math fell from 39.1% to 25%—suggesting small class sizes may make results heavily dependent on the specific group of students in each grade. There is also a persistent gender gap, with male students ranking in the 31st percentile statewide while female students rank in only the 18th percentile.

Compared to nearby schools, Coleman's results are mixed. It outperforms Farwell Elementary School, which has a higher poverty rate, on 3rd grade ELA (31.3% vs. 14.1%). However, Renaissance Public School Academy, with a similar demographic profile, achieves better results in most subjects. Coleman's 5th grade science scores are a relative bright spot, coming closer to state averages than other subjects. The school spends $14,792 per student—more than Renaissance Academy ($12,800)—yet sees weaker overall outcomes, and its student-teacher ratio of 16.6 is higher than most comparable schools. While the school has foundations to build on, addressing chronic absenteeism and the decline in performance as students advance through grades appear to be the most promising areas for improvement.