Thompson Middle School

Thompson Middle School in Saginaw, MI, serves 585 students in grades 6 through 8 and is part of the Saginaw School District of the City of, a district that has faced significant challenges in recent years.

For parents considering this school, the most important thing to understand is that academic proficiency rates are very low compared to state averages. For example, in the most recent school year, only about 8% of 6th graders and 16% of 7th graders were proficient in English Language Arts on the M-Step, compared to state averages of roughly 38%. Math proficiency is even lower, with fewer than 6% of 6th graders and under 4% of 7th graders meeting state standards. Chronic absenteeism is also a major concern—nearly 73% of students were chronically absent, which is more than 2.5 times the state average. This is closely tied to the fact that over 90% of students come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. It's worth noting that nearby schools like Swan Valley Middle School and Hemlock Middle School achieve proficiency rates of 50-60% or higher with much lower absenteeism, showing that these challenges are not universal to the region.

There are a few encouraging signs, however. Eighth graders scored notably higher on the PSAT English Language Arts test (30.6% proficient) than on the M-Step, suggesting students may perform better on different assessment formats. Additionally, 7th-grade ELA scores have shown a small but steady improvement over the past two years, rising from about 11% to 16%. The school also spends a substantial $16,877 per student—more than nearby higher-performing schools—which indicates that resources are available, though they have yet to translate into significant academic gains. For parents, this means Thompson Middle School faces real obstacles, but there are pockets of progress that suggest targeted literacy efforts may be starting to make a difference.