Middle Schools in Forest Hills Public Schools

The six middle-level schools within Forest Hills Public Schools, a top-ranked district in Michigan, serve grades 5-8 and include three 5-6 grade schools (Northern Trails 56 School, Central Woodlands 56 School, and Goodwillie Environmental School) and three 7-8 grade middle schools (Eastern Middle School, Northern Hills Middle School, and Central Middle School), all dramatically outperforming state averages in every subject.

For parents, the standout is Central Middle School, which ranks in the 99th percentile statewide and posts the highest PSAT math scores (81.2% proficiency) among the 7-8 grade schools, along with the lowest chronic absenteeism rate (6.4%). Goodwillie Environmental School, despite being the smallest (103 students) and having the highest student-teacher ratio (24.2:1) and lowest per-student spending ($13,219), achieves the single highest subject score in the district—92.31% in 5th-grade ELA. Meanwhile, Eastern Middle School is the rising star, jumping from 45th to 10th place statewide in one year, with the district's best 8th-grade science (76.6%) and social studies (87.6%) scores. Northern Hills Middle School lags slightly behind its peers, showing the lowest proficiency in most subjects and the highest chronic absenteeism (11.1%), despite spending the most per student ($15,835).

Across the district, all schools exceed state averages by 30-50 percentage points in ELA and math, with 8th-grade PSAT proficiency ranging from 88.8% to 93% in ELA versus the state's 64.8%. Chronic absenteeism strongly correlates with performance—Central Woodlands 56 School (5.1%) and Central Middle School (6.4%) outperform schools with higher absence rates. A consistent ~3-point dip in ELA proficiency occurs when students transition from 6th to 7th grade, but scores rebound by 8th grade. Notably, higher spending does not guarantee better outcomes, and the district's relatively affluent demographics (free/reduced lunch rates from 5.83% to 17.69%) appear to create uniformly supportive learning environments.