High Schools in Marcellus Community Schools

The Marcellus Community Schools district in Michigan contains two high schools serving grades 9-12 (and 7-12 at one campus): Marcellus High School, a traditional school with 160 students, and Volinia Outcome Base School, a much smaller alternative program with 40 students. The district ranks in the 60th percentile statewide with a 3-star rating.

Marcellus High School is the academic leader, boasting a perfect 100% graduation rate and zero dropouts—far better than the state averages of 84% and 7.1%, respectively. It also excels in 9th-grade English (71.9% proficiency, well above the state's 60.2%) and 11th-grade science (40.5% vs. 35.2% statewide). However, the school shows a dramatic 30-point drop in English proficiency between 9th and 10th grade, and math remains a persistent weakness, with proficiency falling from 31.3% in 9th grade to just 21.4% by 11th grade. Test scores also dipped across all subjects from the prior year, though the small student body makes year-to-year swings less reliable. Meanwhile, Volinia Outcome Base School serves a much higher-needs population (85% free/reduced lunch vs. 52.5% at Marcellus) and struggles with a 68.7% chronic absenteeism rate. Despite this, it maintains a zero dropout rate and posts a strong 66.67% proficiency in 10th-grade English—beating both the district and state averages. Its graduation rate of 77.7% is below the state norm but notable given the challenges it faces.

Both schools keep every student enrolled, a district-wide achievement given Michigan's 7.1% average dropout rate. The most striking contrast is in resources: Marcellus High School spends $17,724 per student versus just $13,920 at Volinia Outcome Base School, despite Volinia serving a far more disadvantaged population. For parents, Marcellus offers a traditional path with strong graduation outcomes and pockets of excellence, while Volinia provides a flexible, outcome-based alternative that appears to keep at-risk students engaged and succeeding in English, even with high absenteeism. The district's main opportunities lie in shoring up math instruction and investigating the 9th-to-10th grade English decline.