Summary:
Zip code 48026 in Fraser, Michigan, is served by six public schools—three elementary schools, one middle school, and two high schools—that together educate roughly 3,533 students across the Fraser Public Schools district and the independent Arts Academy in the Woods charter district.
For families comparing options, Richards Middle School stands out as the academic leader with a 4-star rating and 71st percentile ranking, outperforming the elementary schools that feed into it and the high school it sends students to. Fraser High School is the rising star, rebounding to the 59th percentile while posting an impressive 94.3% graduation rate—more than 10 points above the state average—despite mediocre test scores. Among elementary options, Ralph Waldo Emerson Elementary School offers the best value: it has the lowest chronic absenteeism (19.3%) and lowest per-student spending ($13,994) yet achieves strong ELA results, while Thomas A Edison Elementary School spends the most ($17,584) with mixed outcomes. Eisenhower Elementary School falls in the middle but struggles with 34% chronic absenteeism. Arts Academy in the Woods offers a specialized arts curriculum with the best student-teacher ratio (12.3:1) and exceptional 8th grade social studies scores (70.2% proficiency), but its 56.2% chronic absenteeism rate and 10.1% dropout rate are serious concerns.
The most pressing issue across every school is mathematics—proficiency consistently lags state averages, with Fraser High's SAT math at just 17.2% and a troubling decline as students advance through grade levels. Chronic absenteeism also worsens in upper grades, affecting roughly one-third of students at the middle and high school levels. However, social studies emerges as a consistent strength, and the district's mid-tier state ranking (54th percentile) masks meaningful bright spots, particularly Richards Middle School's strong instructional practices and Fraser High's effective graduation support systems.
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