Holton

Holton has three public schools serving prekindergarten through grade 12: Holton Elementary School, Holton Middle, and Holton High. Across their reported All Grades results, the three schools’ averages were 36% in English language arts (ELA), 36% in math, and 32% in science, compared with state results of 46%, 41%, and 38%. High’s science result was the sole school result above the state in those comparisons. The biggest area-wide concern is that ELA and math results moved farther behind the state in the latest year.

Holton Elementary School led reported All Grades ELA at 39% and was nearly tied with Holton High in math, at 39% each; Holton Middle had the lowest math result, 31%. Science shows the sharpest contrast: High scored 42%, Middle 33%, and Elementary 20%, a 22-point spread. High’s grade-11 science result was 12 points above the state rate for that grade, while Elementary’s grade-5 result was 26 points below its state comparison. Middle’s ELA result, 35%, was almost the same as High’s 35%.

Recent trends are mixed by school, but the combined ELA and math picture weakened: the three-school ELA average fell 7 points while the state rose 1 point; the math average fell 2 points while the state rose 2. Middle improved in both subjects, while Elementary and High declined. SchoolDigger rankings also diverged: High dropped from the 95th to the 63rd percentile over three years; Elementary fell from the 35th to the 24th, while Middle ended near its starting point, at the 29th percentile. High pairs a 92% graduation rate with the area’s highest chronic absenteeism, 21%, versus 13% at both other schools. Student–teacher ratios range from 11.9 at Middle to 14.4 at High; these characteristics offer context but do not explain the differences in results.