Best Elementary Schools in Zip Code 48875

Zip code 48875, serving Portland, MI, is home to two elementary schools within the Portland Public Schools district, which together educate 896 students across a split-campus model covering Pre-Kindergarten through 5th grade.

These two schools operate as a deliberate two-stage system. Oakwood Elementary School handles the foundational years (PK-2) with a notably lower student-teacher ratio of 13.7:1, suggesting a focus on early intervention and individualized attention. Its counterpart, Westwood Elementary School, serves grades 3-5 and carries the weight of standardized testing, with a higher ratio of 16.7:1. While Oakwood has a slightly larger enrollment (473 vs. 423) and a marginally higher rate of free/reduced lunch eligibility (40.2% vs. 37.6%), Westwood spends a bit more per student ($12,860 vs. $12,492), likely reflecting the costs of upper-grade instruction and testing. Both schools share a 2-star rating and rank in the 49th percentile statewide, but Westwood’s data reveals the academic picture: it shows genuine strength in math, with 4th graders beating the state average (44.6% vs. 39.4%), yet struggles significantly in 5th-grade social studies (13.6% proficiency vs. 27.5% statewide) and 3rd-grade ELA (26.1% vs. 38.2%).

The most encouraging finding is attendance: both schools post chronic absenteeism rates near 16%, far better than the state’s 27.9% and the district’s own 20.5%, meaning students are consistently in class. However, Westwood’s ranking has slipped from the 49th to 40th percentile year-over-year, driven by broad proficiency declines—most alarmingly a drop in 5th-grade social studies from 28.1% to 13.6%. This suggests a possible curriculum or assessment shift worth investigating. For parents, the takeaway is that these schools provide a stable, well-attended environment with strong early-grade support and competitive math instruction, but upper-grade literacy and social studies need attention. The district’s overall 2-star rating masks these nuances, so look beyond the ranking to see a community investing strategically in both early learning and tested grades.