Summary:
The three public elementary schools serving the 49007 zip code in Kalamazoo, Michigan—Lincoln International Studies School, Northglade Montessori School, and Woodward Elementary—are all part of the Kalamazoo Public Schools district and serve grades PK through 5, with enrollments ranging from 242 to 306 students.
There is a dramatic performance gap between these schools. Northglade Montessori School is the clear standout, ranking in the 88th percentile statewide with a 4-star rating. Its proficiency rates in ELA and math are roughly two to three times higher than the state average—for example, 5th-grade science proficiency is 56.8% at Northglade, compared to just 6.9% at Lincoln International Studies School and 17.9% at Woodward Elementary. In contrast, both Lincoln and Woodward rank in the bottom 14th percentile or lower, with 3rd-grade ELA proficiency at just 7.02% and 21.2%, respectively, versus the state average of 38.2%. Northglade also has a much lower chronic absenteeism rate (19.9%) compared to Lincoln (34.2%) and Woodward (46.9%), and a lower percentage of students receiving free/reduced lunch (46.13% versus 81.05% at Lincoln and 92.56% at Woodward).
Interestingly, the lower-performing schools spend more per student—Lincoln at $21,545 and Woodward at $21,518, versus $18,432 at Northglade—and have smaller class sizes (student-teacher ratios of 12 and 12.4, versus 19.2 at Northglade). This suggests that funding and class size are not the primary drivers of success here; rather, the Montessori model at Northglade and lower concentrations of poverty appear to be more influential. Northglade has also shown consistent improvement, moving from the 80th to the 88th percentile over recent years, while Lincoln and Woodward have remained stagnant. For parents, this means that within a single zip code, Northglade Montessori offers a high-performing, upward-trending option, while Lincoln and Woodward face significant challenges tied to attendance and socioeconomic factors.
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