Summary:
Zip code 48455, serving the Metamora, Michigan area, is home to just one elementary school, Emma Murphy Elementary School, which educates students in kindergarten through 4th grade as part of the Lapeer Community Schools district.
Emma Murphy presents a mixed picture for parents to consider. The school has seen its overall state ranking slip notably over the past two years, dropping from the 76th percentile to the 53rd percentile. The most striking issue is a significant decline in 3rd-grade test scores between the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 school years. Proficiency in English Language Arts plummeted by nearly 25 percentage points to just 24.4%, and math fell by 23 points to 31.7%, placing these scores well below both district and state averages. This dramatic drop is puzzling, especially since the school's chronic absenteeism rate (19.5%) is much better than the district average, and the student population is not considered high-poverty. In contrast, the school's 4th-grade students are performing very well, exceeding state averages in both ELA (45.5%) and math (52.7%). This sharp divide between grade levels suggests that while the upper elementary instruction is effective, there may be challenges in the earlier grades or a particularly difficult cohort in the current 3rd grade.
Looking at the bigger picture, data from the previous year shows that students who left Emma Murphy for 5th grade elsewhere in the district performed exceptionally well, especially in ELA where they beat the state average by nearly 19 points. This suggests the school builds a strong foundation by 4th grade. With a student-teacher ratio of 20.7:1 and per-student spending of $15,213, the school has resources, but the high ratio might limit individualized attention. For parents, the key takeaway is that Emma Murphy offers a strong upper-grade experience, but the recent 3rd-grade scores warrant a closer look and conversation with the school about how they plan to address this decline.
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