Summary:
The city of Hesperia, Michigan, is served by the Hesperia Community Schools district, which operates three public schools—Patricia St Clair Elementary School, David C Outwin Middle School, and Hesperia High School—all sharing a single campus and serving roughly 799 students from kindergarten through 12th grade in a predominantly low-income community.
Within this small district, Hesperia High School is the clear standout, earning a 2-star rating and ranking in the 40th percentile statewide—well ahead of the other two schools. It has shown steady improvement over three years and posts its strongest results in 11th-grade science and social studies, where proficiency actually meets or exceeds state averages. By contrast, Patricia St Clair Elementary School is the district's biggest concern, ranking in the 17th percentile with the highest poverty rate (70.6% free/reduced lunch) and math proficiency that falls from 21.3% in 3rd grade to just 9.2% by 5th grade. David C Outwin Middle School represents a steep academic cliff, with 6th-grade math proficiency dropping to 6.7%—far below the state average of 31.9%—and chronic absenteeism climbing to 38.1%.
For parents, the most pressing issue district-wide is mathematics, which lags state averages by 20 to 25 percentage points at nearly every grade level. Chronic absenteeism is also a crisis at the high school, where 53.2% of students are chronically absent—nearly double the state rate—and the dropout rate sits at 12%. On a more positive note, 9th-grade ELA proficiency (55%) is close to the state average, and the high school's improving trajectory suggests pockets of progress. However, per-student spending is notably uneven: the elementary school receives $18,197 per student versus $12,466 at the high school, despite the high school facing greater challenges with engagement and graduation outcomes.
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