West Branch-Rose City Area Schools

The West Branch-Rose City Area Schools district in Michigan operates 4 schools, including 2 elementary schools, 1 middle school, and 1 high school. The data reveals a mix of strong and underperforming schools within the district, with notable standouts like Rose City School and Surline Middle School.

Rose City School, a small elementary school with just 106 students, has impressive performance metrics, particularly in 4th and 5th grade test scores. In 2024-2025, 44.4% of 4th graders were proficient or better in ELA, and 45.45% of 5th graders were proficient or better in Science - both above the district and state averages. The school also has a very low student-teacher ratio of 10.7. Surline Middle School has also shown consistent performance, ranking in the top half of Michigan middle schools in the past 3 years, with a strong 6th grade ELA proficiency rate of 45.6% in 2024-2025.

However, the district as a whole faces some challenges, including high chronic absenteeism rates of 29.5% across all 4 schools in 2023-2024, and significant disparities in student performance across grade levels and subjects. While some schools and grade levels performed well, there were also many areas where student proficiency lagged behind the district and state averages. The district's high percentages of students qualifying for free/reduced lunch, ranging from 59.35% at Ogemaw Heights High School to 82.08% at Rose City School, also indicate a high level of economic need that the district should address through targeted interventions and resource allocation.