Summary:
Zip code 48026 is home to a single middle school, Richards Middle School, which serves grades 7 and 8 within the Fraser Public Schools district, enrolling 661 students in a suburban Detroit area.
Richards Middle School is a solid mid-to-upper-tier performer, with its state ranking improving from the 67th to the 71st percentile over the past three years. The school’s biggest academic strength is English Language Arts: 7th graders scored 48.3% proficient on the M-Step, nearly 10 points above the state average of 38.4%, while 8th graders hit 64.7% on the PSAT ELA, essentially matching the state’s 64.8%. However, math is a clear weak spot, particularly in 8th grade. The PSAT math proficiency rate was a troubling 22.4% in 2024-2025—12.8 points below the state average—before jumping to 35.6% in 2025-2026, slightly above the state’s 33.2%. This volatility suggests the improvement may not yet be a stable trend. The school also spends a healthy $14,371 per student and maintains a student-teacher ratio of 17.9, with 37.67% of students qualifying for free or reduced lunch.
One striking finding is that every test score reported for the school is identical to the district’s percentage, confirming that Richards Middle School is the only school in Fraser Public Schools serving these grades, making district comparisons meaningless. More concerning is the paradox of rising academic performance alongside a chronic absenteeism rate of 34.3%—well above the state’s 27.9%. This suggests that while attending students perform well, a large share of the student body is regularly missing class, posing a hidden risk to future outcomes. Additionally, the school’s ELA strength on the M-Step but merely average PSAT scores hints that its curriculum may align better with state standards than with college-readiness benchmarks. For parents, this school offers strong literacy instruction and improving rankings, but math consistency and attendance are areas to watch closely.
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