With its best of High School and College lists popular, U.S. News & World Report decided to compile ‘best” middle and elementary school lists with a local charter school taking a top spot.
Byron Center’s Cross Creek Charter Academy’s K-5 program took the top spot for the Michigan elementary charter school list. Wyoming’s Vanguard Charter Academy ranked seventh on the same list. Both schools are operated by the National Heritage Academy.
The top ten Michigan Charter Middle Schools were all NHA schools with Canton’s Achieve Charter Academy taking the top spot and Cross Creek Charter Academy taking seventh and Grand Rapids Excel Charter Academy taking ninth.
“We’re excited to see recognition for the hard work our students, teachers and staff have put in to accomplish these high marks,” NHA CEO Brian Britton said. “All of our schools are focused on teaching children to be their best, and we appreciate the trust their parents have in us to accomplish that task.”
NHA operated 98 charter schools in nine states: Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, New York, North Carolina, Colorado, Georgia, Louisiana, and Wisconsin.
Overall for Michigan middle schools, Grand Rapids Middle/City High Schools, Blandford Nature Center, Byron Center Middle School and Spring Lake Middle School placed in the top 25.
Byron’s Brown, Countryside, and Marshall elementary schools, Grand Haven’s Rosy Mound School, Spring Lake’s Jeffers and Holmes elementary schools, and Forest Hills’ Ada Elementary School and Holmes Elementary School placed in the top 25 overall for Michigan elementary schools.
Rankings were determined by analyzing math and reading proficiency, state assessments and how schools performed compared to expectations. State assessments from the 2018-19 school year were used to limit the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on test results.
