High Schools in Caro Community Schools

The Caro Community Schools district in Michigan is served by two very different high schools: Caro High School, a comprehensive school for grades 9-12 with 411 students, and Caro Alternative High School, a much smaller program for grades 7-12 with just 33 students.

For parents, the most important takeaway is that Caro High School is the clear academic leader and is showing strong momentum. It recently jumped from the 38th to the 56th percentile in state rankings, and now outperforms state averages in Science (43.3% proficient vs. 35.2%) and Social Studies (51.9% vs. 43.2%). However, math remains a significant weakness, with only 22.1% of 11th graders proficient in SAT Math, below the state's 26.5%. The school also has a solid 94.0% graduation rate, though its chronic absenteeism rate of 29.2% is slightly above the state average. In stark contrast, Caro Alternative High School is facing a crisis. Its graduation rate is just 41.1%, its dropout rate is a staggering 29.4%, and more than half of its students (56.5%) are chronically absent. This school also serves a much higher-need population, with 69.7% of students qualifying for free/reduced lunch, yet it spends nearly $5,000 less per student ($9,697) than the main high school ($14,621).

The disparity between these two schools is dramatic and raises serious questions about resource allocation. While Caro High School is a district success story, the struggles at Caro Alternative High School drag down the district's overall 2-star rating. The alternative school's low funding, combined with its high-poverty student body and poor outcomes, suggests it may not have the resources needed to provide the intensive interventions its students require. For parents, this data paints a clear picture: the main high school offers a solid, improving education with some college-readiness gaps, while the alternative school appears severely under-resourced and is not effectively serving its at-risk students.