Maple Valley JrSr High School

Maple Valley JrSr High School is a mid-sized public school in Vermontville, MI, serving 375 students in grades 7 through 12 as part of the Maple Valley Schools district.

The most striking thing about Maple Valley is the disconnect between its graduation rate and its academic test scores. On one hand, the school graduates 95.3% of its students—well above the state average of 84% and higher than nearby schools like Pennfield Senior High School (86.7%) and Charlotte Senior High School (87.8%). On the other hand, proficiency rates on state tests are roughly half the state average or lower. For example, only 10.3% of 7th graders are proficient in ELA (state: 38.4%), and 11th-grade SAT math proficiency sits at just 12.2% (state: 26.5%). This suggests students are completing their requirements, but may not be leaving with the academic skills needed for college or modern careers. The school has also declined significantly from its past performance—it held a 4-star rating and ranked in the 79th percentile as recently as 2018, but now sits at a 2-star rating in the 35th percentile statewide.

Chronic absenteeism is a major concern, with 35.8% of students missing significant school time—far higher than the state average (27.9%) and much higher than nearby Potterville High School (14.6%) or Olivet High School (18.8%). There is also a persistent gender gap: the school ranks in the 42nd percentile for female students but only the 27th percentile for male students, a pattern that has held for three years. A useful comparison is Bellevue JrSr High School, a similarly sized school just 11 miles away with better test scores and a much lower absenteeism rate (24.5%), showing that schools in similar circumstances can achieve stronger outcomes.