Best Public Schools in Colon, MI

The city of Colon, Michigan, is served by the Colon Community School District, which operates two schools—Colon High School (grades 6–12, 271 students) and Colon Elementary School (grades K–8, 223 students)—serving roughly 494 students in this small, rural community.

For parents comparing the two buildings, the most striking difference is in student demographics and attendance. Colon Elementary School serves a more economically disadvantaged population (60.5% free/reduced lunch vs. 45.4% at the high school) yet maintains better attendance, with chronic absenteeism at 25.6% compared to 36.3% at Colon High School—a rate well above the state average of 27.9%. The high school is the stronger performer academically, particularly in 11th-grade science (38.5% proficient vs. 35.2% statewide) and social studies (44.4% vs. 43.2%), and it boasts a strong 91.1% graduation rate with a dropout rate of just 2.9%, less than half the state’s 7.1%. Its 8th-grade students are a notable bright spot, exceeding state averages in PSAT ELA (66.7%) and M-Step science (40.6%). However, math proficiency is critically low across both schools—only 6.7% of 9th graders and 7.3% of 10th graders at the high school are proficient, compared to roughly 32% statewide—and the elementary school’s social studies proficiency sits at just 8.3%.

Both schools rank in the bottom third of Michigan, though Colon High School has shown improvement, climbing from the 32nd to 34th percentile over recent years, while Colon Elementary School rose from the 15th to 19th percentile. The district spends above the state average ($15,054–$16,379 per student) with smaller class sizes at the elementary level (11.4:1 vs. 15.2:1 at the high school), yet results remain below expectations. Parents should note that with only 40–50 students per grade, test scores swing dramatically year to year, making single-year comparisons unreliable. The district’s unusual grade overlap (both schools serve grades 6–8) complicates accountability, but the clearest priorities are math intervention at all levels and tackling high school absenteeism, despite the school’s otherwise strong graduation outcomes.