Lafayette School

Lafayette School is an elementary school in Lincoln Park, MI, serving 441 students in grades PK-5 within the Lincoln Park School District of the City of, where over 97% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.

Lafayette faces significant academic challenges, with proficiency rates in math and reading well below state averages across most grade levels. For example, 5th-grade math proficiency was just 8.2% compared to the state average of 32.2%. The school also struggles with chronic absenteeism—38.6% of students miss substantial school days, which is over 10 percentage points higher than the state average. While this rate has improved from a post-pandemic peak of nearly 50%, it remains a critical barrier to learning. On a positive note, 5th-grade social studies scores have shown meaningful improvement, jumping from 3.5% proficiency to 14.5% over two years, suggesting recent instructional changes may be taking effect.

One of the most striking findings is the school's exceptional performance with its African American students, who ranked in the 80th percentile statewide—earning a 4-star rating—even as overall school performance sits in the bottom quintile. This success stands in contrast to lower outcomes for other student groups and represents a significant internal strength that could be studied and expanded. Compared to nearby schools, Lafayette spends more per student ($21,360) than James Foote School ($18,317), Keppen School ($19,429), and Max Paun School ($20,135), yet remains the lowest-performing among these in-district peers. For instance, 5th-grade ELA proficiency at Lafayette is 31.1% versus 51.9% at James Foote and 52.9% at Max Paun. Even Arno Elementary School in Allen Park Public Schools, with a lower poverty rate, achieves proficiency rates double or triple Lafayette's. This suggests that while funding is above average, converting those resources into effective academic programs remains the school's central challenge.