Summary:
The Gibraltar School District, located in the Rockwood, Michigan area, is served by a single middle school, Shumate Middle School, which educates students in grades 6 through 8 and has a substantial enrollment of 839 students.
As the only middle school in the district, Shumate Middle School presents a mixed picture for parents. The school is currently ranked 461st out of 890 Michigan middle schools, placing it in the 48th percentile, though projections for the 2025-2026 school year show a promising jump to the 58th percentile. A standout strength is 8th-grade English Language Arts on the PSAT, where 73.4% of students are proficient—a remarkable 8.6 points above the state average. However, the school struggles significantly with mathematics on the M-Step, particularly in 7th grade, where only 25.2% of students are proficient compared to the state's 33.3%. Perhaps the most concerning metric is chronic absenteeism, which sits at a high 29.4%, well above both the district average of 22.8% and the state average of 27.9%. This attendance issue likely contributes to the below-average M-Step scores in core subjects like math and science.
Parents should note an interesting paradox: while 8th graders outperform state averages on the PSAT in both ELA and math, the same cohort scores below state averages on the M-Step assessments. This could suggest the curriculum aligns better with the PSAT format. The school also shows a positive trajectory, with projected improvements in 6th-grade math (from 24.9% to 31.1% proficiency) and 8th-grade social studies (from 36.7% to 42.9%). With per-student spending of $14,596 and a student-teacher ratio of 21.2, resources appear adequate, but the high absenteeism rate suggests student engagement and attendance are the primary hurdles to academic success. For parents, this means the school has clear academic strengths in ELA, but math intervention and attendance initiatives should be key priorities to watch.
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