Summary:
Reading High School is the only high school serving the Reading Community Schools district in Reading, Michigan, a small rural district where the school enrolls 286 students across grades 7-12 and holds a 2-star rating.
For parents, the most important takeaway is that this school excels at keeping students engaged and on track to graduate, even while facing economic challenges. With 54.55% of students qualifying for free/reduced lunch, the school still posts a chronic absenteeism rate of just 15.6%—far better than the state average of 27.9%—and a graduation rate of 87.7%, which beats the state’s 84.0%. The dropout rate is also low at 4.0% versus 7.1% statewide. Academically, the picture is mixed. English Language Arts performance is competitive with state averages in several grades—7th grade M-Step ELA (39.5% vs. 38.4%) and 10th grade PSAT ELA (58.7% vs. 58.0%) both meet or exceed state levels—and there are clear year-over-year improvements in 11th grade SAT ERW (up 2.7 points) and 8th grade social studies (up 15.1 points). However, mathematics is a serious concern. Proficiency drops steadily as students advance, from 23.7% in 7th grade math to just 10.8% on the 11th grade SAT Math, a gap of 15.7 points below the state average. This suggests cumulative learning deficits that peak in high school.
The school’s ranking has fluctuated, dipping to the 32nd percentile in 2024-2025 before rebounding to the 43rd percentile in 2025-2026. With a favorable 16.1:1 student-teacher ratio and per-student spending of $16,847, the school has resources to address its math gap, but results indicate those resources aren’t yet translating into college readiness in mathematics. For parents, this means Reading High School offers a supportive, attendance-focused environment with strong graduation outcomes, but they should pay close attention to math support, especially as students move into upper grades where the achievement gap widens most sharply.
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