Summary:
Cassopolis Public Schools is a small, predominantly low-income Michigan district serving about 853 students across four schools in a rural setting, ranging from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. The district overall ranks in the 27th percentile statewide, but individual schools vary dramatically in both performance and student outcomes.
The clear standout is Cassopolis High School, which posts an exceptional 93.9% graduation rate—nearly 10 points above the state average—despite test scores below state norms. Its SAT Reading/Writing proficiency improved to 45.9%, and social studies proficiency actually exceeds the state average. In contrast, Cassopolis Alternative Educational is struggling severely, with only a 21.4% graduation rate and a 21.4% dropout rate, despite serving just 16 of the district's most at-risk students. Cassopolis Middle School shows the highest chronic absenteeism (35.7%) and alarmingly low math scores (as low as 6.67% proficiency in 7th grade), while Sam Adams Elementary School is the only school where science proficiency (45.7%) exceeds the state average, though its math scores remain critically low.
A district-wide math crisis deepens with each grade level, falling from roughly 11-27% proficiency in elementary school to just 6.6% on the high school SAT math. Meanwhile, ELA consistently outperforms math by 2-3 times across all schools. Chronic absenteeism correlates with weaker performance, particularly at the middle school. The high school shows a positive trajectory with improving rankings and test scores, suggesting recent initiatives are gaining traction. However, the alternative school's poor outcomes despite the lowest per-student spending ($10,796) raises concerns about whether it is adequately resourced to serve its high-need population effectively.
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