Bates Academy

Set in DETROIT, Michigan, Bates Academy is a sizable primary school, one of the schools within Detroit Public Schools Community District. It serves 773 students across grades pre-K through 8. By comparison, Michigan's public schools average about 369 students each, so Bates Academy sits 109% larger than that benchmark.

Detroit Public Schools Community District comprises 103 schools with combined enrollment of 48,448 students; Bates Academy is among them.

On the student-mix side, Bates Academy logs that nearly all students (100%) are Black. That is meaningfully more Black than the county at large, where the share is closer to 37%.

Looking at the economic backdrop, Staff filings list 42 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 18.4:1 students per teacher. That figure is higher than the state norm's 15.8:1 average. An estimated 61% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal.

With demographic context factored in, Bates Academy ranks in the top 10% of Michigan public schools. The BeatsExpectations model, a per-state regression of composite proficiency on FRL share, predicts schools with this student profile to land around 39.2%; Bates Academy posts 62.5%, +23.2 points above that line.

Around the school, ACS estimates for Wayne County put the typical household earns roughly $60,539 per year, 28% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 16%. In all, Wayne County runs 573 public schools (combined enrollment of about 259,786 students), of which Bates Academy is one.

The closest other public school is MacDowell Preparatory Academy, roughly 0.3 miles away. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools.

The campus sits in a downtown setting.

Five-year trend. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Bates Academy has edged up 10%, going from 704 students in 2018 to 773 in 2025. The student-to-teacher ratio fell from 20.1:1 in 2018 to 18.4:1 today.

On the community side, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.