Summary:
Crawford AuSable Schools is home to just one middle school, Grayling Middle School, which serves grades 5 through 8 and enrolls about 450 students in a rural Michigan setting where nearly half of the student body qualifies for free or reduced lunch.
Grayling Middle School has seen its state ranking slip notably over the past three years, falling from the 80th percentile (4-star) in 2023-2024 to the 54th percentile (3-star) in 2025-2026. The most concerning trend is a dramatic "6th grade slump" in English Language Arts: proficiency plunged to just 19.3% in 2025-2026, a staggering 18.2 points below the state average and a 14.9-point drop from the prior year. This suggests a possible instructional or cohort-specific issue at that grade level. However, the school shows genuine strengths elsewhere. Seventh graders outperform the state in math by 4.3 points, and 8th graders exceed state averages on the PSAT math portion by 8.4 points, indicating that math skills may strengthen significantly by upper grades. Science scores in 5th and 8th grades also slightly beat state averages.
Performance is volatile year-to-year, with swings of more than 12 points in several subjects (e.g., 8th grade science fell 17.7 points, while 5th grade science rose 12.5 points), likely reflecting small class sizes. Chronic absenteeism affects one in four students (25.4%), slightly better than the state rate, but still a concern. The school spends a substantial $26,635 per student, yet results have declined, raising questions about resource allocation. For parents, the key takeaway is that Grayling offers pockets of excellence—especially in upper-grade math and science—but the 6th grade ELA drop and overall ranking decline warrant close attention and a conversation with school leadership about interventions.
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