Summary:
Zip code 48342 in Pontiac, Michigan, is served by five schools—three elementary schools and two high schools—with no dedicated middle schools, totaling 1,749 students across the Pontiac City School District and three charter or alternative districts.
For parents, the standout option is Pontiac Academy for Excellence MiddleHigh, which despite having 100% of students on free/reduced lunch, achieves the best outcomes in the zip code. It is the only school to earn even one star in recent rankings, posts a graduation rate of 82.7% (near the state's 84.0%), and leads in 5th grade ELA at 26.8% proficiency—nearly double Whitman Elementary School's 15.6%. Among elementary schools, Herrington School and Great Lakes Academy show comparable results, with Great Lakes Academy achieving 26.3% in 5th grade ELA despite spending $8,497 less per student than Whitman. Learn4Life Pontiac is the most concerning, with a 45.4% graduation rate, though its 6.0% dropout rate is below the state average, suggesting it serves a highly mobile alternative population.
The most pressing issue across all five schools is chronic absenteeism, which ranges from 51.6% at Learn4Life to 69.8% at Herrington—roughly double the state average of 27.9%. This likely drives the uniformly low test scores, with all schools trailing state proficiency averages by 20-30 percentage points in ELA, math, and science. Spending varies widely, from Whitman's $25,349 per student to Learn4Life's $11,727, yet higher spending does not consistently produce better results. Social studies is a particular weakness, with Whitman's 5th grade proficiency at just 3.06% versus the state's 29.8%. While no school has exceeded one star since 2009, Pontiac Academy's near-state-average graduation rate and Great Lakes Academy's 30% proficiency in 8th grade PSAT ELA offer small signs that improvement is possible despite systemic challenges.
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