Elmwood Elementary School

Located at 22700 CALIFORNIA ST, in SAINT CLAIR SHORES, Michigan, Elmwood Elementary School is a modestly sized primary school that enrolls 305 students (grades 3 through 5), part of South Lake Schools.

South Lake Schools comprises 4 schools with combined enrollment of 1,385 students; Elmwood Elementary School is among them.

Looking at the student body, Elmwood Elementary School logs that the largest single group is Black at 54%, but no single group is in the majority. Beyond that, the school lists 32% White, 10% multiracial, 3% Hispanic. The wider county runs roughly 13% Black, putting the school's mix visibly more Black than the area baseline.

In terms of school funding signals, The school lists 22 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 13.8:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 15.8:1 average. Roughly 53% of students at Elmwood Elementary School qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Elmwood Elementary School tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 42.9% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 33.7%.

Around the school, census data for Macomb County shows median household income runs about $77,837, 28% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 8%. In all, Macomb County runs 236 public schools (combined enrollment of about 115,743 students), of which Elmwood Elementary School is one.

The closest other public school is South Lake Middle School, roughly 0.7 miles away. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Elmwood Elementary School. Among the 4 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Elmwood Elementary School ranks 4th on composite proficiency, behind the local average of 48.1%.

The school occupies a bedroom-community site.

Five-year trend. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Elmwood Elementary School has declined 7%, going from 328 students in 2018 to 305 in 2025. Over the same period, the Black share edged up from 26% to 54%. The student-to-teacher ratio narrowed from 20.4:1 in 2018 to 13.8:1 today.

Within the allk12 community for this school, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.