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SCHOOL COMMUNITY·WATERFORD SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 263531007142

Cooley Elementary School

2000 HIGHFIELD RD, WATERFORD, MI 48329 · (248) 673-0300 · Oakland County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL377 STUDENTS
B-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 51% of Michigan public elementary schools
  • B-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
  • B-Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
  • ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.

Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Michigan public elementary schools

Enrollment
377
Elementary
DISTRICT 340 · STATE 369
Student : Teacher
17.6:1
21 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 16.2:1 · STATE 15.8:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
50%
190 students
DISTRICT 59% · STATE 55%
Community
1
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.

Enrollment by grade, 2024-25

GradeStudentsShare
Kindergarten6718%
Grade 15214%
Grade 27821%
Grade 36317%
Grade 45515%
Grade 56216%

This year's kindergarten class (67) is 8% larger than its 5th grade class (62).

Student demographics
45%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 57% · STATE 56% · US 70%
White
27372%
DISTRICT 61% · STATE 63% · US 43%
Hispanic
4913%
DISTRICT 18% · STATE 9% · US 30%
Black
298%
DISTRICT 12% · STATE 18% · US 15%
Asian
133%
DISTRICT 2% · STATE 4% · US 6%
Two+
123%
DISTRICT 5% · STATE 5% · US 5%
Native American
10%
DISTRICT 0% · STATE 1% · US 1%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Male
17045%
Female
20755%

Discussions

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Test scores

M-STEP 2024-25 . % Advanced + Proficient
English Language Arts
44.9%
MI avg 47.7%
Math
42.3%
MI avg 44.8%

What this means: On the M-STEP, Michigan's statewide test, about 45 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 42 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Michigan schools, those numbers are about 48 and 45.

Source: M-STEP. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →

BeatsExpectations

Demographically-adjusted score · methodology
Tier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
45.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
44.0%
based on MI schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+1.6pp
above demographic expectation

What this means: About 46% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 44% typical for Michigan schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Michigan's top nor bottom 10%.

BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →

Schools most like Cooley Elementary School

Cooley Elementary School's state test result (45.5% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.

SchoolStudentsLow-incomeProficient
Cooley Elementary School this school37750.4%45.5%
Erving Elementary School
WOODHAVEN
37951.2%42.8%
Schoolcraft Elementary School
WATERFORD
39854.5%47.3%
Bangor West Central School
BAY CITY
36152.1%41.8%
Eastside Connections School
NILES
40351.1%57.5%
Fancher School
MOUNT PLEASANT
43146.4%32.2%
Matched among Michigan elementary schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.

Where Cooley Elementary School ranks

Among elementary schools
MeasureThis schoolIn MichiganIn Oakland County
State test proficiency
ranked highest first
45.5%#557 of 1,085#112 of 147
Math proficiency
ranked highest first
42.3%#613 of 1,072#111 of 144
Reading proficiency
ranked highest first
44.9%#642 of 1,139#121 of 157
Enrollment
ranked largest first
377#763 of 1,630#115 of 178
Students per teacher
ranked fewest first
17.6:1#1,085 of 1,424#142 of 170
Diversity index
ranked most diverse first
45.1%#542 of 1,424#92 of 170
Free and reduced lunch
ranked highest share first
50.4%#885 of 1,563#48 of 175
Enrollment change since 2017-18
ranked steepest decline first
-23.1%#169 of 979#15 of 118
Ranked against other public elementary schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.

4-year change

SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25
Enrollment
377
-15 (-4%) vs 2020
+39% since 1990-91, when it was 272
Student : Teacher
17.6:1
was 18.7:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data

Enrollment and staffing by year

School yearStudentsTeachers (FTE)Students per teacherFree and reduced lunch
2024-2537721.417.6:150% (190)
2023-2437123.315.9:150% (184)
2022-2340820.220.2:154% (222)
2020-213922118.7:152% (202)
2017-1849024.420.1:154% (267)
2015-164832519.3:149% (236)
2010-114442418.5:136% (162)
2000-014702122.4:116% (73)
1990-91272N/AN/AN/A
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Cooley Elementary School.

Since 2017-18: students down 23% (490 to 377); teachers down 12% (24.4 to 21.4).

About Cooley Elementary School

Cooley Elementary School sits in WATERFORD, Michigan, and is classified as an elementary school. The school reports 377 students in kindergarten through 5.

Besides Cooley Elementary School, Waterford School District runs 16 other schools. The district enrolls 6,641 students.

At 72%, White students outnumber all other groups at Cooley Elementary School combined. Smaller groups are 13% Hispanic, 8% Black, 3% Asian, and 3% multiracial. The county population is about 69% White, within a few points of the school. By the diversity index, Cooley Elementary School comes in at 45%.

Teachers at the school number 21.4 full-time equivalents, and the ratio is 17.6:1. Among elementary schools in Michigan, the typical ratio is 15.8:1. The school's lunch program data list 50% of students as eligible for free or reduced-price meals. It compares with 32% for public schools in Oakland County.

allk12 grades Cooley Elementary School a B-. The grade compares the school only with Michigan public elementary schools, because each state gives its own test.

Cooley Elementary School sits between the top and bottom 10% of Michigan schools on BeatsExpectations, with an actual average proficiency rate on state tests of 45.5% and a predicted 44.0%.

In the county around the school, Oakland County, median household income is about $97,760, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 51% of adults, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 5%. A total of 345 public schools operate in Oakland County, serving about 169,926 students.

The next-closest public school is Pierce Middle School, about 1.0 miles away. There are at least 8 more public schools inside five miles. Local comparison: Cooley Elementary School ranks 1st of 4 nearby schools, at 45.5% versus a 35.6% average.

The NCES locale for Cooley Elementary School is Suburb: Large, which covers schools in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.

The number of students declined from 392 to 377 over 4 years. Students per teacher fell from 18.7 in 2020-21 to 17.6 in 2024-25.

The Cooley Elementary School community page is open for posts about school events, clubs, and volunteer needs. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.

Oakland County at a glance

View full county profile
Population
1,279,825
Census ACS
Median income
$97,760
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
51%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
5%
Below federal line
Schools in county
345
169,926 students

Quick facts

School name
Cooley Elementary School
District
Waterford School District
Address
2000 HIGHFIELD RD, WATERFORD, MI 48329
Phone
(248) 673-0300
County
Oakland County
Level
Elementary
Grade range
KG–05
Total enrollment
377
Teachers (FTE)
21
Student–teacher ratio
17.6:1
Free and reduced lunch
190 (50%)
Locale
21-Suburb: Large
NCES ID
263531007142
Charter school
No
Virtual school
No

Related schools

Other schools in Waterford School District
Other schools in WATERFORD
Other Cooley Elementary schools

One other US public school is named Cooley Elementary. Cooley Elementary School is the 2nd largest of the 2.

Nearby schools

Frequently asked questions

About Cooley Elementary School
How many students attend Cooley Elementary School?
Cooley Elementary School enrolls approximately 377 students in grades KG-05.
What age range does Cooley Elementary School serve?
Cooley Elementary School serves students from grade KG through grade 05.
How many students per teacher at Cooley Elementary School?
Approximately 17.6:1 students per teacher at Cooley Elementary School.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Cooley Elementary School?
At Cooley Elementary School, the student body is approximately 72% White, 13% Hispanic, 8% Black, 3% Asian, 3% Two or more.
Who oversees Cooley Elementary School?
Cooley Elementary School is overseen by Waterford School District in Oakland County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.
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