Joy Preparatory Academy

Joy Preparatory Academy operates as a low-enrollment combined-grade school in DETROIT, Michigan, overseen by Joy Preparatory Academy. Current enrollment sits at 161 students spanning grades pre-K through 12. By comparison, Michigan's public schools average about 281 students each, so Joy Preparatory Academy sits 43% below that benchmark.

Joy Preparatory Academy is a school of Joy Preparatory Academy, the district that handles curriculum, staffing, and budget for the campus.

On the student-mix side, Joy Preparatory Academy records that nearly all students (99%) are Black. That is meaningfully more Black than the county at large, where the share is closer to 37%.

Looking at the economic backdrop, The school currently runs with 12 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 13.3:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 17.3:1, putting Joy Preparatory Academy tighter than the state norm the norm. About 99% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy. Set against Wayne County (around 66%), the school's rate is noticeably above typical.

In the area at large, the surrounding county (Wayne County) logs that the typical household earns roughly $60,539 per year, 28% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 16%. In all, Wayne County runs 573 public schools (combined enrollment of about 259,786 students), of which Joy Preparatory Academy is one.

Thurgood Marshall Elementary School is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.5 miles from this campus. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius.

Geographically, the school is in a metropolitan area. Joy Preparatory Academy operates as a public charter school, meaning it is publicly funded but governed independently of the surrounding district's traditional schools.

Over the past 7-year window. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Joy Preparatory Academy has decreased 55%, going from 356 students in 2018 to 161 in 2025. The student-to-teacher ratio fell from 29.7:1 in 2018 to 13.3:1 today.

On this page, members of the Joy Preparatory Academy community share and discuss science fair prep, picture-day reminders, and bus-route questions. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.