Summary:
Airport Community Schools is a mid-sized Michigan district serving roughly 2,840 students across 8 schools in the Carleton area, spanning grades PK-12 with four elementary schools, two middle-level schools, one comprehensive high school, and one alternative education center. The district holds a 3-star rating (56th percentile statewide), with notable strengths in early math and high school reading, but significant challenges emerge in middle school foundational skills and STEM subjects at the secondary level.
Among the elementary schools, Joseph C Sterling Elementary School stands out as the academic leader, with 4th grade ELA (50%) and math (51.3%) proficiency rates well above district and state averages, plus the lowest chronic absenteeism rate in the district at just 16.0%. Loren Eyler Elementary School shows consistent excellence in math, with 3rd grade proficiency at 56.4% and 4th grade at 51.8%, both substantially exceeding state averages. By contrast, Fred W Ritter Elementary School represents the district's biggest concern, ranking in just the 24th percentile with 4th grade math proficiency at a troubling 16.7%—less than half the district average—while also serving the highest percentage of economically disadvantaged students among traditional elementaries. Henry Niedermeier Elementary School sits in the middle, maintaining a steady 3-star rating.
The transition to middle school reveals a dramatic achievement cliff. While elementary students generally meet or exceed state math averages, Wagar Middle School (5th grade only) shows proficiency rates near district averages, but performance drops sharply by 6th grade at Wagar Junior High School, where ELA proficiency falls 9.1 points below state averages. However, Wagar Junior High shows hidden strengths in 8th grade Science (46.7% vs. 39.2% state) and Social Studies (55.5% vs. 50.3% state). Airport Senior High School presents a paradox: SAT reading scores (60.6%) and graduation rates (91.8%) exceed state averages, yet SAT math (18.8%) and 11th grade science (23.8%) lag significantly behind. The Airport Center for Education spends the most per student ($18,296) but achieves only a 40.5% graduation rate with a 45.9% dropout rate, warranting examination of program effectiveness despite serving a higher-need population.
Thank you for your feedback!