Summary:
Zip code 48116 in Brighton, Michigan, is served by two elementary schools—Hornung Elementary School and Hawkins Elementary School—both part of the highly rated Brighton Area Schools district, which ranks in the top 5% of Michigan districts.
For parents, the standout choice is Hornung Elementary, which has earned a 5-star rating for three consecutive years and consistently ranks in the 95th-96th percentile statewide—placing it among Michigan's top 5% of elementary schools. Hawkins Elementary is a solid 4-star school but trails Hornung significantly, particularly in 4th grade. In the most recent testing year, Hornung's 4th graders achieved 74.3% proficiency in English Language Arts and 79.6% in Math, compared to Hawkins' 48.6% and 57.0%—a gap of roughly 23-26 percentage points. Interestingly, Hawkins spends about $1,454 more per student and has a slightly better student-teacher ratio (17.1 vs. 18.0), yet Hornung still outperforms it, suggesting factors like instructional quality or school culture drive the difference. Hawkins also shows a concerning pattern where 3rd graders outperform 4th graders in both subjects, while Hornung shows the opposite trend, with 4th graders improving on 3rd grade results.
Both schools serve predominantly affluent populations, with free/reduced lunch rates of 9.14% at Hornung and 11.8% at Hawkins, and both dramatically exceed Michigan state averages—Hornung by 23-40 percentage points and Hawkins by 8-23 percentage points. Chronic absenteeism is low at both schools (11.3% and 9.3%, respectively) compared to the state's 27.9% rate. Hawkins' rankings have been more volatile, swinging from 259th to 384th and back to 265th, which may reflect varying student cohorts. Overall, Hornung is the clear academic leader in this zip code, while Hawkins provides a dependable education with room for improvement, especially in 4th grade performance.
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