Summary:
Zip code 48093 in Warren, Michigan, is home to two very different middle schools serving grades 6-8: Carter Middle School and Rockwell Middle School.
Carter Middle School, part of Warren Consolidated Schools, is the larger, traditional option with 679 students. It has shown real improvement, jumping from the 37th to the 53rd percentile in state rankings between 2023-2024 and 2024-2025, before settling at the 47th percentile for 2025-2026. However, its academic performance is uneven. While 8th graders meet or exceed state averages in Social Studies (50.7% vs. 50.3%) and PSAT ELA (68.5% vs. 64.8%), math is a persistent weakness—proficiency in 6th grade math is just 18.9% compared to the state’s 31.9%. The school also faces significant challenges with chronic absenteeism (40% vs. 27.9% statewide) and serves a predominantly low-income population (62.3% free/reduced lunch).
Rockwell Middle School, under Macomb Independent School District (Isd), is a dramatically smaller, specialized program with just 66 students and a 6:1 student-teacher ratio. Its per-student spending of $79,527 (2018-2019) is roughly five times that of Carter’s $15,874, and its historical rankings placed it in the bottom 1-8% of Michigan schools. However, no recent test score or ranking data is available, suggesting it likely serves students with significant special needs or operates as an alternative/therapeutic setting rather than a traditional middle school. Both schools struggle with chronic absenteeism near 40%, and Rockwell’s poverty rate is even higher at 66.7%. For parents, Carter offers a more data-rich picture of a traditional school working to improve, while Rockwell’s specialized nature and lack of current public data make direct comparison difficult.
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