Fancher School

Fancher School is an elementary school in Mount Pleasant, MI, serving 431 students in grades 3 through 5 within the Mt. Pleasant City School District.

Fancher is the higher-performing of the district's two schools serving these grades, consistently outperforming Mary McGuire School in every subject and grade level tested. For example, in 4th-grade English Language Arts, Fancher's proficiency rate was 33.8% compared to Mary McGuire's 22.1%. However, the school has experienced a significant decline in recent years, with its overall state ranking dropping from the 57th percentile in 2022-2023 to the 31st percentile in 2025-2026. Test scores have fallen across all subjects during this period—5th-grade science proficiency, for instance, dropped from 43.7% to 26.3%. The school also faces notable challenges in serving specific student groups, with particularly low rankings for special education students (3rd percentile) and students from low socio-economic backgrounds (15th percentile).

Perhaps the most striking comparison is with Weidman Elementary School, located just 12 miles away. Despite having a significantly higher percentage of students receiving free or reduced lunch (73% vs. Fancher's 46%), Weidman ranks in the 93rd percentile statewide and achieved 85% proficiency in 3rd-grade math compared to Fancher's 30.6%. This demonstrates that high poverty levels don't prevent academic excellence. Chronic absenteeism at Fancher (23.1%) is a concern but is lower than the district average and comparable to nearby schools. However, Winn Elementary School shows that lower absenteeism (9%) can correlate with stronger outcomes. On a positive note, Fancher spends less per student ($14,694) than Mary McGuire ($16,047) while achieving better results, suggesting efficient resource use—though there remains significant room for improvement relative to state averages.