Cassopolis Middle School

Cassopolis Middle School in Cassopolis, MI, serves 188 students in grades 6-8 and is part of the Cassopolis Public Schools district, which currently holds a 1-star rating.

For parents, the most important takeaway is that Cassopolis Middle School is facing significant academic challenges. Proficiency rates in both English Language Arts and Math are well below state averages across all grade levels. For example, only 19.4% of 6th graders and 11.7% of 7th graders were proficient in ELA in the most recent school year, compared to state averages of 37.5% and 38.4%. Math scores are even lower, with just 12.9% of 6th graders and 6.67% of 7th graders meeting proficiency standards. The school also struggles with a rapidly escalating chronic absenteeism problem, which has more than doubled in two years to 35.7%—higher than the state average of 27.9%. This is a critical issue because students who aren't in class miss valuable instruction time.

It's also worth noting that the school spends a considerable amount per student ($14,973), which is actually higher than several nearby schools that achieve better results, including Edwardsburg Middle School ($13,058) and Brandywine Middle School ($13,822). This suggests that simply increasing funding isn't enough to improve outcomes. A more encouraging comparison can be found at Dowagiac Middle School, just 6 miles away, which serves a student population with even higher economic need yet consistently outperforms Cassopolis in nearly every subject. There is one bright spot: 8th-grade ELA scores have shown steady improvement, rising from 32.8% to 54.5% proficiency over three years, suggesting that targeted literacy efforts may be starting to pay off. However, the overall picture indicates that the school needs a fundamental shift in strategy around attendance, school climate, and instructional effectiveness to better serve its students.