Dickinson East Elementary School

Dickinson East Elementary School in Hamtramck, MI, serves 529 students in grades K-6 and is part of the Hamtramck School District of the City of, a community where over 80% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch.

If you're looking at this school, the most important thing to know is that it's the highest-performing traditional public school in its district, though it still faces significant academic challenges. Statewide, Dickinson East ranks in the 15th percentile, which is a decline from past years—it ranked in the 45th percentile back in 2014-2015. However, compared to its district neighbors, it's doing relatively well: Dickinson West Elementary School sits in the 6th percentile, and Holbrook School is at the 24th percentile. One clear bright spot is the 6th grade, where proficiency rates are notably higher than the district average—27.8% in English Language Arts versus 19.5% district-wide, and 22.9% in Math versus 15.8%. This pattern of improving scores as students move up through the grades suggests the school is effective at building skills over time, even if starting points are low.

A major concern for parents to be aware of is chronic absenteeism, which hovers around 45%—far above the state average of roughly 28%. This isn't inevitable for the community, though. Nearby Tau Beta School has a rate of just 18.4%, and charter options like Bridge Academy West (10.1%) and Oakland International Academy PreK1 (13.2%) do much better. It's also worth noting that charter schools in the area, such as Hamtramck Academy (78th percentile) and Hanley International Academy (49th percentile), achieve significantly higher rankings while serving similar populations. Finally, Dickinson East had a remarkable past success with its Special Education students, ranking in the 93rd percentile statewide in 2017-2018—a sign that the school is capable of exceptional results for specific groups, even if that success hasn't been sustained recently.