Summary:
Kalkaska Public Schools is home to a single high school, Kalkaska High School, which serves grades 9 through 12 and enrolls 439 students in a rural northern Michigan community where nearly half of the student body qualifies for free or reduced lunch.
Kalkaska High School stands out for its strong graduation rate of 91.8% for the 2024-2025 school year, well above the state average of 84.0%, while its dropout rate of 5.4% is lower than the state’s 7.1%. This is particularly notable given that 47.38% of students face economic disadvantage, suggesting the school effectively supports its population. The school has consistently earned a 3-star rating over the past three years, though its state percentile ranking has slipped from the 66th percentile in 2023-2024 to the 55th percentile in 2025-2026. Academically, the school shows a mixed profile: 11th graders excelled in Science on the M-Step in 2024-2025, posting a 44.8% proficiency rate versus the state’s 34.9%, but lagged in SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing at 48.9% compared to the state’s 55.4%.
Parents should note significant year-over-year volatility in test scores. Science proficiency dropped sharply from 44.8% in 2024-2025 to 27.9% in 2025-2026, and SAT Reading and Writing fell from 48.9% to 37.7% in the same period. However, PSAT data from 2025-2026 shows 9th graders (69.9%) and 10th graders (58.1%) meeting or exceeding state averages in English Language Arts, suggesting strong early high school performance that may not carry through to the SAT. Chronic absenteeism affects 27.7% of students, just below the state’s 27.9%, yet the high graduation rate indicates the school successfully recovers many absent students. With a student-teacher ratio of 18.9, class sizes are larger than the national average, which families may want to consider when evaluating the school’s ability to provide individualized attention.
Thank you for your feedback!