Summary:
Montabella JuniorSenior High is the sole high school within Montabella Community Schools, serving grades 6 through 12 in a small, rural Michigan district with 383 students and a high rate of economic need (60% free/reduced lunch).
This school tells a story of dramatic progress mixed with uneven academic performance. The most headline-worthy news is its state ranking jump: from 610th (1 star) in 2024-2025 to 343rd (3 stars) in 2025-2026—a leap of 267 places that puts it above the state median. Parents should feel encouraged by strong high school outcomes: the graduation rate (84.6%) edges out the state average, the dropout rate (5.1%) is well below the state norm, and 11th-grade science proficiency (37.3%) beats the state. English Language Arts is a clear strength, with 9th and 10th graders outperforming state averages on the PSAT (68.6% vs. 60.2% and 62.5% vs. 58%, respectively).
However, the ranking improvement masks a serious red flag: mathematics. Proficiency is below state averages in every grade tested, and 8th-grade math is critically low at just 11.3% proficient compared to the state’s 33.2%—a 22-point gap. Social studies in 8th grade (37.7%) also lags far behind the state (50.3%). This suggests a middle-school bottleneck where students fall behind before high school. Additionally, scores swing wildly year to year (e.g., 6th-grade ELA dropped from 40.9% to 24.3%, while 11th-grade science nearly tripled), likely due to small class sizes. Chronic absenteeism (24.5%) is better than the state average but still affects a quarter of students. For parents, this school offers a supportive high school environment with solid graduation rates, but the math deficit—especially in middle school—demands attention to ensure students are truly college- and career-ready.
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