Middle Schools in Harrison Community Schools

Harrison Community Schools is home to a single middle school, Harrison Middle School, which serves grades 6 through 8 and enrolls 279 students in this rural Michigan district. The school serves a predominantly economically disadvantaged population, with nearly 80% of students eligible for free/reduced lunch, and it has consistently ranked in the bottom 30th percentile of Michigan middle schools over the past three years, earning a 1-star rating in two of the last three years.

Academically, Harrison Middle School struggles significantly compared to state averages across most subjects and grade levels. In the most recent 2025-2026 M-Step testing, 6th-grade ELA proficiency was 24% (state: 37.5%), 7th-grade ELA was 13.3% (state: 38.4%), and 8th-grade science was 18.2% (state: 39.2%). However, there are notable bright spots and anomalies. In the 2024-2025 school year, 8th-grade science proficiency reached 43.9%, actually surpassing the state average of 41.1%, and 8th-grade PSAT ELA proficiency nearly matched the state at 64.3% versus 65.3%. That same year, however, PSAT math proficiency was just 15.3% compared to the state's 30.4%, revealing a stark divide between literacy and math skills in the 8th grade.

One of the most concerning trends is the dramatic year-over-year volatility in 8th-grade scores—science plummeted from 43.9% to 18.2% and social studies dropped from 38.1% to 23.9% between the two school years—making it difficult to assess the true effectiveness of the program. Chronic absenteeism is also a major issue, with 36.3% of students missing significant instructional time, well above the state average of 27.9%. Despite spending a substantial $17,230 per student, the school's outcomes remain low, though there is a slight positive trajectory in 6th and 7th-grade ELA and math, with 6th-grade math jumping from 5.5% to 20.3% proficiency. This upward trend in lower grades may indicate that recent interventions are beginning to take hold, even as the school continues to face significant challenges related to poverty and attendance.