Best Middle Schools in Jackson, MI

The city of Jackson, Michigan is home to three middle schools: Northwest Kidder Middle School, Middle School at Parkside, and Fourth Street Learning Center. These schools serve students in grades 6-8 and face a range of challenges, including low academic performance, high chronic absenteeism, and serving predominantly low-income student populations.

Among the three schools, Fourth Street Learning Center stands out with the smallest enrollment of 36 students and the highest percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch at 97.22%. This suggests the school serves a very high-need student population. However, the school's academic performance data is not provided, making it difficult to assess its effectiveness. In contrast, Northwest Kidder Middle School and Middle School at Parkside have significantly lower test scores compared to the state averages, with only 25.6% and 20.3% of 6th-grade students proficient or better in English Language Arts, respectively, compared to the state average of 38.6%.

Chronic absenteeism is a persistent challenge across all three middle schools, with 29.5% of students chronically absent at both Northwest Kidder Middle School and Middle School at Parkside. This high rate of chronic absenteeism likely contributes to the overall academic struggles. Additionally, the majority of students in these schools come from low-income families, with the percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch ranging from 53.79% at Northwest Kidder Middle School to 97.22% at Fourth Street Learning Center. This socioeconomic factor likely plays a significant role in the academic performance and resource needs of these schools.