Summary:
Fraser Public Schools is home to a single middle school, Richards Middle School, which serves grades 7 and 8 in Fraser, Michigan, with an enrollment of 661 students.
Richards Middle School is on a strong upward trajectory, recently earning its first 4-star rating after improving 43 positions in the state rankings to the 71st percentile. The school outperforms the state average in five of six assessment areas, with notable strengths in English Language Arts—7th graders scored 48.3% proficient on the M-Step, a full 10 points above the state average. The most dramatic success story is in 8th grade PSAT math, which jumped an incredible 13.2 percentage points in one year, from 22.4% to 35.6% proficiency, moving the school from well below to above the state average. Social studies also saw a strong 7.1-point gain. However, performance is mixed: 7th grade math declined by 3.9 points, and 8th grade science dropped 4.8 points, bringing it right to the state average. This suggests that while the school excels in certain areas, some year-to-year swings may be tied to specific cohorts of students.
The school’s biggest challenge is chronic absenteeism, which sits at 34.3%—notably higher than both the district (29.9%) and state (27.9%) averages. This is a concern, as nearly one in three students is missing significant school time. Despite this, the school achieves above-average results while serving a moderately diverse socioeconomic population, with 37.7% of students qualifying for free or reduced lunch. With a student-teacher ratio of 17.9:1 and per-student spending of $14,371, Richards Middle School appears to allocate resources efficiently. For parents, the key takeaway is that this is a school with clear academic strengths and recent momentum, but addressing chronic absenteeism could be the most impactful lever for unlocking even greater success for all students.
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