School quality and the measurements of student, school, and district achievement have typically been estimated without considering physical attributes of place. Such studies have used variables for socioeconomic status, teacher salaries, time spent in the classroom, pupil-teacher ratio, and others to explain student achievement. This thesis introduces place attributes and their impact on student proficiency at the school district level in Michigan while controlling for common variables utilized throughout previous literature. The attributes of place introduced include natural amenities, such as the total area of lakes and publicly-owned open space, the total length of rivers, and adjacency to the Great Lakes, and built amenities, such as the presence of a university or museum and an amusement or recreational facility. Results indicate a positive relationship between combined math and reading proficiency and open space, rivers, and Great Lakes adjacency and a negative relationship with the presence of a university or museum and lake acreage at the seventh grade level. The presence of amusement or recreational opportunities was insignificant. No place attribute variables were significant in the fourth grade model. The results imply that attributes of place significantly contribute to combined math and reading proficiency at the seventh grade when introduced in a school quality function.