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Honest take: what's the hardest part about being a student at South Arbor Charter Academy?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
800
Elementary
STATE 369
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·SOUTH ARBOR CHARTER ACADEMY·NCES 260022301182
South Arbor Charter Academy
8200 CARPENTER RD, YPSILANTI, MI 48197 · (734) 528-2821 · Washtenaw County
GRADES KG–08ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBCHARTERREGULAR SCHOOL800 STUDENTS
A+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 96% of Michigan public elementary schools
- ATest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- A+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
Student : Teacher
19.7:1
41 FTE teachers
STATE 15.8:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
32%
255 students
STATE 55%
Community
5
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
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten | 92 | 12% |
| Grade 1 | 85 | 11% |
| Grade 2 | 79 | 10% |
| Grade 3 | 86 | 11% |
| Grade 4 | 87 | 11% |
| Grade 5 | 98 | 12% |
| Grade 6 | 87 | 11% |
| Grade 7 | 95 | 12% |
| Grade 8 | 91 | 11% |
This year's kindergarten class (92) is about the same size as its 8th grade class (91).
Student demographics
72%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
STATE 56% · US 70%
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
Test scores
M-STEP 2024-25 . % Advanced + ProficientEnglish Language Arts
70.6%
MI avg 47.7%
Math
70.2%
MI avg 44.8%
What this means: On the M-STEP, Michigan's statewide test, about 71 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 70 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 · methodologyTier
OUTPERFORMING
Top 10% of MI schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
69.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
52.2%
based on MI schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+17.8pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 70% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 52% typical for Michigan schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations ranks schools against others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school can post high scores and still fall short of its prediction, or post lower scores and still beat it. This school clears its prediction by about 18 points, placing it in Michigan's top 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 South Arbor Charter Academy
South Arbor Charter Academy's state test result (69.9% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Arbor Charter Academy this school | 800 | 31.9% | 69.9% |
| Gill Elementary School FARMINGTON | 543 | 28.7% | 45.2% |
| Ann Arbor STEAM at Northside School ANN ARBOR | 614 | 21.7% | 60.7% |
| Cross Creek Charter Academy BYRON CENTER | 809 | 41.3% | 70.8% |
| Delta Center Elementary School LANSING | 528 | 33.3% | 51.2% |
| Floyd Ebeling Elementary School MACOMB | 711 | 34.6% | 51.6% |
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 South Arbor Charter Academy ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Michigan | In Washtenaw County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 69.9% | #71 of 1,085 | #7 of 39 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 70.2% | #93 of 1,072 | #9 of 39 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 70.6% | #84 of 1,139 | #8 of 39 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 800 | #21 of 1,630 | #1 of 53 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 19.7:1 | #1,330 of 1,424 | #47 of 47 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 71.6% | #51 of 1,424 | #6 of 47 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 31.9% | #1,192 of 1,563 | #26 of 50 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +0.1% | #439 of 440 | #15 of 15 |
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 2024-25Enrollment
800
+21 (+3%) vs 2020
+114% since 2000-01, when it was 374
Student : Teacher
19.7:1
was 19.5:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 800 | 40.5 | 19.7:1 | 32% (255) |
| 2023-24 | 802 | 39.8 | 20.2:1 | 35% (283) |
| 2022-23 | 801 | 39.3 | 20.4:1 | 33% (266) |
| 2020-21 | 779 | 40 | 19.5:1 | 22% (173) |
| 2017-18 | 799 | 39.8 | 20.1:1 | 21% (165) |
| 2015-16 | 790 | 36 | 21.9:1 | 18% (145) |
| 2010-11 | 759 | 34 | 22.3:1 | 18% (136) |
| 2000-01 | 374 | 18 | 20.8:1 | 3% (13) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for South Arbor Charter Academy.
Since 2017-18: students unchanged (799 to 800); teachers up 2% (39.8 to 40.5).
About South Arbor Charter Academy
In YPSILANTI, Michigan, South Arbor Charter Academy is a large elementary school. A total of 800 students attend the school, which covers kindergarten through 8. The average for elementary schools in Michigan is about 369 students, so this school is 117% above average.
In federal data, the district for South Arbor Charter Academy is the school itself.
White students form the largest group at South Arbor Charter Academy, 45% of enrollment. Enrollment also includes 18% Black, 17% Asian, 12% multiracial, and 8% Hispanic. Among people living in Washtenaw County, the White share is about 69%. The chance that two students picked at random at South Arbor Charter Academy belong to different racial or ethnic groups, known as the diversity index, is 72%.
A ratio of 19.7:1 comes from the school's 40.5 full-time-equivalent teachers. For comparison, elementary schools in Michigan average 15.8:1. Free or reduced-price lunch eligibility was 32% in 2024-25. Across public schools in Washtenaw County, the average is about the same, 34%.
Measured against Michigan public elementary schools, South Arbor Charter Academy receives an A+. The grade weighs proficiency most heavily, then how results compare with what the school's low-income share predicts, then the three-year change.
On allk12's BeatsExpectations measure, South Arbor Charter Academy is among the top 10% of schools in Michigan. Predicted: 52.2%. Actual: 69.9%.
Federal survey data for Washtenaw County show that median household income is about $89,180, 59% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 7% of residents live below the federal poverty line. South Arbor Charter Academy is among the 104 public schools in Washtenaw County.
Nearby, Huron Valley Womens is about 0.6 miles away. Other public schools within five miles number at least 8. Ranked by average proficiency, South Arbor Charter Academy places 2nd out of 4 schools in its immediate area.
South Arbor Charter Academy is coded as Suburb: Large in federal locale data. This is a charter school, which is a tuition-free public school operating under a charter.
Federal counts put enrollment at 779 in 2020-21 and 800 in 2024-25, a 3% gain.
Discussions about South Arbor Charter Academy may include sports tryouts, band and choir, and theater. Questions from prospective families are welcome too.
Washtenaw County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
369,822
Census ACS
Median income
$89,180
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
59%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
104
42,861 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in YPSILANTI
- Lincoln Senior High SchoolHigh · 810 students
- Lincoln Middle SchoolMiddle · 712 students
- Fortis AcademyElementary · 681 students
- South Pointe Scholars Charter AcademyElementary · 631 students
- Brick Elementary SchoolElementary · 500 students
- Childs Elementary SchoolElementary · 493 students
Nearby schools
- Huron Valley Womens0.6 mi · 2
- Pittsfield Acres Academy2.3 mi · 81
- Multicultural Academy2.8 mi · 324
- East Arbor Charter Academy3.3 mi · 483
- Arbor Preparatory High School3.4 mi · 278
- Childs Elementary School3.4 mi · 493
Frequently asked questions
About South Arbor Charter AcademyWhat is the total enrollment at South Arbor Charter Academy?
South Arbor Charter Academy enrolls approximately 800 students in grades KG-08.
Is South Arbor Charter Academy an elementary, middle, or high school?
South Arbor Charter Academy is an elementary school covering grades KG-08.
How many teachers does South Arbor Charter Academy have?
South Arbor Charter Academy employs 41 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 19.7:1.
What is the racial breakdown of students at South Arbor Charter Academy?
At South Arbor Charter Academy, the student body is approximately 45% White, 8% Hispanic, 18% Black, 17% Asian, 12% Two or more.
Is South Arbor Charter Academy public or private?
South Arbor Charter Academy is a public K-12 school operated as a charter, overseen by South Arbor Charter Academy.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.