Jefferson

Jefferson is a PK-5 public elementary school in Holland, MI, serving 254 students within the Holland City School District, where about 80% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch.

Jefferson has shown real signs of progress recently. After several years of inconsistent test scores, the school jumped from the 28th to the 39th percentile in statewide rankings in the latest year. The standout story is 5th-grade reading: proficiency soared from 19.5% to 56%, now beating both the district (42.1%) and state (43.8%) averages. That’s a remarkable turnaround. However, math remains a clear weak spot—only 15.8% of 3rd graders and 20% of 4th graders met proficiency, well below state averages. The school also spends heavily on its students at $32,660 per pupil (far more than nearby Holland Heights at $27,246) and maintains a low student-teacher ratio of 9.9, meaning your child would get plenty of individual attention.

The biggest challenge facing Jefferson is chronic absenteeism. In the latest year, 38.2% of students were chronically absent—far exceeding the district (29.3%) and state (27.9%) averages, and much higher than nearby Waukazoo Elementary (12.2%). This likely explains much of the inconsistency in academic results, since missing school makes it hard to build skills sequentially. When comparing schools, West Elementary, just 0.71 miles away, ranks higher (51st percentile) with lower absenteeism (27.6%), while Vanderbilt Charter Academy—serving a similar high-poverty population—outperforms Jefferson, suggesting improvement is possible. The recent 5th-grade reading gains provide a blueprint: if Jefferson can replicate that success across all grades and subjects while tackling absenteeism head-on, it’s on a promising upward path.