Arrowwood Elementary School

Arrowwood Elementary School in Saginaw, MI, serves 445 students in grades 3 through 5 as part of the Saginaw Township Community Schools district, with nearly 59% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.

Arrowwood faces significant academic challenges, with proficiency rates running 10-20 percentage points below state averages across all subjects. For example, only 15.6% of 5th graders are proficient in math, compared to 32.2% statewide. The school has held a 1-star rating for several years, though there is a silver lining: its statewide percentile ranking has improved from the 10th percentile in 2020-2021 to the 24th percentile in 2025-2026, suggesting recent efforts may be gaining traction. One particularly bright spot is the school's performance with its African American students, who rank in the 30th percentile statewide—higher than the school's overall ranking and notably better than other student subgroups at Arrowwood.

The contrast with nearby schools is striking. Hemmeter Elementary School, just 1.22 miles away in the same district, ranks in the 100th percentile statewide, with 87.9% of 5th graders proficient in science versus Arrowwood's 24.4%. However, Arrowwood outperforms schools in the Saginaw School District of the City of, such as Herig School and Chester F Miller School, which face even higher poverty rates. Perhaps most telling is the comparison with Weiss Elementary School, a nearly identical school in size and demographics that consistently outperforms Arrowwood—suggesting factors like leadership and teaching strategies matter. Chronic absenteeism is a growing concern, rising from 21.6% in 2022-2023 to 33.6% in 2024-2025, a trend that likely impacts learning. While Arrowwood's per-student spending of $14,245 exceeds the state average, closing the achievement gap with its higher-performing peers will likely require more intensive resource allocation and targeted interventions.