Central Middle School

Central Middle School in Port Huron, MI, serves 599 students in grades 6 through 8 and is the largest of three middle schools in the Port Huron Area School District, with 63.4% of students qualifying for free or reduced lunch.

Central Middle School faces significant challenges, ranking in the bottom quintile of Michigan schools (around the 21st percentile) for several years. The most striking issue is chronic absenteeism: 45.3% of students were chronically absent in the 2024-2025 school year, nearly double the rate at Marysville Middle School (21.9%) and more than double that at Yale Junior High School (19.1%). Academic proficiency is consistently well below state averages—for example, only 14.1% of 6th graders were proficient in math compared to 31.9% statewide. This underperformance spans all student subgroups, with the school ranking in the bottom 20th percentile for female, male, White, and low-income students. Notably, Fort Gratiot Middle School, also in the same district, ranks in the 73rd percentile, highlighting a stark contrast in outcomes despite shared district policies.

There are some encouraging signs. Eighth-grade English Language Arts proficiency reached 45% on the PSAT, a relative strength compared to other subjects. Additionally, 8th-grade Social Studies scores have improved dramatically, jumping from 10.4% proficiency in 2023-2024 to 29.8% in 2025-2026, suggesting targeted instructional changes may be working. The school spends $15,108 per student—more than higher-performing nearby schools like Marysville Middle School ($11,987) and Yale Junior High School ($13,434)—indicating that financial resources are not the primary barrier. Instead, the combination of high poverty and absenteeism appears to be the main driver of low achievement, though the positive trends in 8th grade suggest that focused efforts can yield progress.