High Schools in Airport Community Schools

Airport Community Schools is home to a single high school, Airport Senior High School, which serves grades 9 through 12 in Carleton, MI, with an enrollment of 760 students. The district itself is ranked 275th out of 625 districts in Michigan, earning a 3-star rating, and the high school has shown notable upward momentum, improving its state ranking from the 37th to the 50th percentile in just one year.

For parents, the most encouraging news is the school’s strength in reading and writing. On the SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing section, 61.9% of 11th graders were proficient—nearly 10 points above the state average. The graduation rate is also a highlight at 91.8%, which is 8.8 points higher than the district average and 7.8 points above the state. However, there is a clear academic split: while literacy scores are strong, the school struggles significantly in math, science, and social studies. Only 20.6% of students were proficient in SAT math, and M-Step proficiency rates were 25.2% in science and just 24.7% in social studies—the latter being a staggering 18.5 points below the state average. This suggests that the instructional approaches driving literacy success are not translating to other subjects.

One paradox worth noting is the combination of a high graduation rate with a chronic absenteeism rate of 30.5%, meaning nearly one in three students misses significant school time. This could indicate strong credit recovery programs, but it also raises questions about academic rigor. Additionally, 45.5% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch, and per-student spending is $14,613 with a student-teacher ratio of 17.1. While Airport Community Schools as a whole faces challenges—its dropout rate is 13.2%—the high school outperforms its district on nearly every metric, making it a relative bright spot. The key takeaway for parents is that this school excels in literacy and graduation, but families should be aware of the need for improvement in STEM and social studies, as well as the high absenteeism rate that may impact student success.