Summary:
Zip code 48229 in Ecorse, MI, is served by two elementary schools within the Ecorse Public Schools district, together enrolling about 401 students from Pre-K through 4th grade.
For parents, the most important takeaway is that Ralph J Bunche Academy (grades 1-4) is the only school in the area with test data, and that data shows a severe crisis. The school ranked dead last in Michigan (1492 out of 1492) for the 2025-2026 school year, a sharp drop from already-low rankings in prior years. Proficiency rates are in the single digits — just 7.8% of 3rd graders and 8.1% of 4th graders are proficient in ELA, while math proficiency is even lower at 3.3% and 5.8% respectively. These numbers are 5 to 13 times below state averages, meaning more than 90% of students are not meeting grade-level standards. Performance also declined year-over-year, with 4th grade ELA proficiency falling from 16.2% to 8.1%.
Chronic absenteeism is a major factor, affecting 71.1% of students at Bunche Academy and 73.2% at Brenda Hague Early Learning Village (PK-K) — roughly 2.5 times the state rate of 27.9%. Both schools serve high-poverty populations, with 83.5% and 87.1% of students qualifying for free/reduced lunch respectively. Notably, the district spends well above typical levels — $16,752 per student at Bunche and $21,326 at Hague — yet outcomes remain extremely poor, suggesting money alone isn't solving the problem. Hague does offer a much lower student-teacher ratio (10.8:1 vs. 26.3:1 at Bunche), which is appropriate for early learners, but its high absenteeism indicates attendance issues start before formal schooling. In short, this is a community facing compounding challenges of poverty, absenteeism, and academic underperformance, with the entire district's reputation resting on a single struggling elementary school.
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