High Schools in Houghton Lake Community Schools

The Houghton Lake Community Schools district in Michigan contains two high schools serving grades 6-12: Houghton Lake JrSr High School, the traditional comprehensive school with 484 students, and Houghton Lake Community Education, an alternative program with 103 students. The district ranks in the 45th percentile statewide, but this aggregate figure hides dramatic differences between its two schools.

Houghton Lake JrSr High School is the clear academic leader, showing remarkable recent improvement from the 29th to the 55th percentile in just two years. It graduates 91.1% of students—far exceeding the state average of 84%—and has a dropout rate of just 1.4%. The school outperforms state averages on PSAT college-prep assessments in both ELA and math across grades 9 and 10, with 10th-grade ELA proficiency at 73.4% versus 58% statewide. However, it lags on M-Step state assessments, particularly in math, and struggles with chronic absenteeism at 50%—nearly double the state rate. By contrast, Houghton Lake Community Education serves a higher-need population (89% free/reduced lunch) with a very low 4.3:1 student-teacher ratio, yet posts a 21.2% graduation rate, 17% dropout rate, and 80.7% chronic absenteeism. Despite the intensive staffing, it spends only $9,941 per student versus $15,112 at the traditional high school.

For parents, the key takeaway is to look beyond district-level statistics. The district's 62.6% graduation rate is dragged down almost entirely by the alternative school's poor outcomes. The traditional high school's 91.1% graduation rate and strong PSAT results suggest genuine strengths, though math proficiency and absenteeism remain concerns. The alternative school's low spending relative to its staffing ratio, combined with its poor outcomes, raises questions about resource allocation that parents of at-risk students should investigate. The district's 2-star rating masks the fact that the traditional high school earns 3 stars while the alternative school hasn't been ranked since 2016-2017.