Summary:
Fitzgerald Public Schools is served by a single middle school, PD Chatterton Middle School, which enrolls 409 students in grades 6-8 in Warren, Michigan, where about 74% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch.
Because there is only one middle school in this district, all comparisons are against state averages, and the picture is one of steady, broad-based improvement. PD Chatterton Middle School has climbed from the 12th to the 22nd percentile in state rankings over three years, and every subject area improved from the 2024-25 to 2025-26 school year. The most dramatic gains came in 8th grade, where PSAT ELA jumped 6.9 points to 47.5% proficiency and PSAT math rose 5.6 points to 14.0% proficiency. Science and social studies also improved by 5.7 points each, reaching 26.1% and 27.5% proficiency respectively. However, the school still trails state averages by roughly 13 to 23 percentage points in every subject, with the largest gaps in 7th-grade ELA (-22.3 points) and 8th-grade social studies (-22.8 points).
The most striking internal disparity is between 8th-grade reading and math: PSAT ELA proficiency (47.5%) is more than triple the math rate (14.0%), suggesting literacy is a relative strength while math remains a critical weakness. Chronic absenteeism is a major systemic challenge, with 46.1% of students missing significant school time—nearly double the state rate of 27.9%, though better than the district's 50.7%. The school spends $15,676 per student and maintains a 16.4:1 student-teacher ratio, yet outcomes remain low, raising questions about how funds are allocated. Encouragingly, 6th graders outperform 7th graders in both ELA and math, and the 7th-grade ELA decline of 4.6 points year-over-year warrants attention. Overall, the school shows consistent upward momentum, but closing the achievement gap will require targeted math interventions and continued efforts to reduce absenteeism.
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