Summary:
Big Rapids Public Schools is home to one middle school, Big Rapids Middle School, which serves grades 5 through 8 and enrolls 644 students in a district ranked in the 75th percentile statewide.
Big Rapids Middle School shows a clear split in academic performance. Its biggest strength is science, where proficiency rates in both 5th and 8th grades consistently beat the state average—for example, 8th-grade science proficiency reached 48.3% versus 39.2% statewide. The school also shines in 8th-grade English Language Arts on the PSAT, with 72.6% of students proficient compared to 64.8% across Michigan. However, math is a major concern: M-Step math proficiency sits in the mid-20s across all grades, trailing the state by 5 to 8 points, and PSAT math proficiency is just 29.9% versus 33.2% statewide. The gap between PSAT ELA (72.6%) and PSAT math (29.9%) is a striking 42.7 percentage points, suggesting that literacy instruction is far more effective than math instruction. In earlier grades, M-Step ELA scores also lag the state and decline from 39.4% in 5th grade to 31.3% in 7th grade, even though 8th graders rebound strongly on the PSAT.
Chronic absenteeism affects 27.1% of students—higher than the district’s 22.3% but roughly in line with the state’s 27.9%—and likely contributes to inconsistent year-to-year results. For instance, 5th-grade math proficiency swung from 40% one year to 27.8% the next, while 6th-grade ELA improved from 30.8% to 36.4%. With 46.43% of students economically disadvantaged and a student-teacher ratio of 20.5, the school faces resource challenges. Overall, Big Rapids Middle School is a strong option for science and college-ready reading, but families should be aware that math achievement needs significant attention and that attendance patterns may affect learning.
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