Duvall Elementary School vs McDonald Elementary School

Duvall Elementary School edges McDonald Elementary School by 0.6 points overall — 9.4/10 versus 8.8/10 — but the state rank gap tells a sharper story: Duvall sits at #23 of 3,190 Michigan schools while McDonald ranks #139 of 3,190. Both are strong performers by any measure, yet Duvall's position in Michigan's top 1% separates it meaningfully from a school that itself outranks roughly 96% of the state.

The academic score delta drives most of that gap. Duvall Elementary School scores 9.5/10 academically against McDonald Elementary School's 7.8/10 — a 1.7-point difference that reflects consistently higher proficiency rates on state assessments. Growth, however, is nearly a dead heat: McDonald's 9.4/10 growth score edges Duvall's 9.3/10 by a single tenth of a point. That near-identical growth score means McDonald is accelerating students at essentially the same rate as Duvall, even as its absolute proficiency baseline is lower.

The demographic contrast between the two schools is the most consequential factor for many families. Duvall Elementary School's free and reduced-price lunch rate is 57%; McDonald Elementary School's is 93%. Enrollment also differs substantially — 220 students at Duvall versus 340 at McDonald — giving Duvall a modestly smaller student-teacher ratio of 13.8:1 compared to McDonald's 14.8:1. These figures reflect genuinely different school communities separated by 5.7 miles within the same Dearborn district.

Both schools serve grades PK–05 under the same district umbrella, so curriculum frameworks and administrative standards are shared. The practical difference lies in classroom composition and socioeconomic context rather than grade structure or program availability. Families weighing the two should factor in whether a smaller, higher-income-mix environment or a larger, high-need community with equally strong growth outcomes better matches what they're looking for.