Windemere Park Charter Academy on West Saginaw Street ranked No. 310 among 1,499 Michigan elementary schools in the 2027 U.S. News Best K-8 Schools rankings.
The tuition-free charter school serves grades K-8, and its U.S. News profile lists 580 students. It received a rating of “Well Above Expectations” in both math and reading performance. Those measures compare results with expectations based on a school’s socioeconomic makeup.
The profile lists 86% of Windemere Park students as economically disadvantaged.
It reports that 27% of students scored at or above the proficient level in math and 39% in reading. Those figures were below the statewide comparison rates listed in that profile: 34% in math and 41% in reading. The assessment data come from the 2023-24 school year.
U.S. News weights four factors equally: math proficiency, math performance, reading proficiency and reading performance.
Half the formula uses subject performance indexes that account for results across proficiency levels. The other half compares results with expectations based on students’ socioeconomic backgrounds, according to the ranking methodology.
Cavanaugh School, a Lansing Public School District campus on West Cavanaugh Road, ranked No. 439 statewide with a score of 70.76 out of 100.
Its profile lists the school as serving pre-K through third grade. Cavanaugh posted 39% math proficiency and 38% reading proficiency, above the district’s elementary-school averages of 15% and 17%, respectively. It also received “Well Above Expectations” ratings in both performance categories.
In a general statement on Windemere Park’s website, Principal Kara McKone emphasizes supporting student achievement.
“Education is a pathway to opportunity and success, and I am proud to be part of that journey at WPCA,” she says.
U.S. News ranked nearly 47,000 elementary schools and more than 24,000 middle schools for the 2027 edition. Schools receive state and district rankings, rather than a national placement. Only public schools are ranked because they participate in common statewide assessments that allow comparison.
Michigan’s top 10 elementary schools
No school in Lansing, East Lansing or Lansing Township appears in the statewide top 10. Three schools in Byron Center made the list, according to the U.S. News Michigan rankings:
- Avondale Gifted and Talented Education, Rochester Hills — grades 2-8; 381 students
- Webster Elementary School, Livonia — grades 1-6; 253 students
- Brown Elementary School, Byron Center — grades K-4; 438 students
- Amerman Elementary School, Northville — grades K-5; 504 students
- Martin Luther King Elementary School, Ann Arbor — grades K-5; 511 students
- Jeffers Elementary School, Spring Lake — pre-K through fourth grade; 379 students
- Countryside Elementary School, Byron Center — grades K-4; 426 students
- Hemmeter Elementary School, Saginaw — pre-K through fifth grade; 331 students
- Marshall Elementary School, Byron Center — pre-K through fourth grade; 463 students
- Novi Woods Elementary School, Novi — grades K-4; 496 students
