Summary:
Zip code 48461 is home to just one middle school, Ruth Fox Middle School, which serves 722 students in grades 5 through 8 within the North Branch Area Schools district, a mid-sized school in a community where about 41% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch.
Ruth Fox Middle School is a solidly above-average school, currently ranking in the 74th percentile statewide with a 4-star rating. Its biggest strength is mathematics, where 5th, 6th, and 7th graders all outperform state averages by more than 10 percentage points. The 6th grade is particularly impressive, scoring 56.8% proficiency in English Language Arts (ELA) and 52.1% in math—both roughly 20 points above the state. However, performance is uneven across grade levels. While 5th and 6th graders generally exceed state averages in most subjects, 7th grade ELA dips below the state average (34.1% vs. 38.4%), and 8th graders perform at or slightly below state averages in science, social studies, and the PSAT. This suggests the school excels in early middle school but struggles to maintain that momentum as students advance.
Year-over-year data shows significant swings—for example, 6th grade ELA jumped from 32.6% to 56.8% proficiency in one year, while 5th grade social studies fell from 53.0% to 30.3%. These changes likely reflect different cohorts of students rather than systemic shifts. Chronic absenteeism stands at 22.2%, which is better than the state average of 27.9% but slightly worse than the district’s 21.3%. Overall, Ruth Fox Middle School delivers strong math instruction and above-average results in early grades despite moderate economic challenges, making it a dependable choice for families, though 7th and 8th grade performance warrants attention.
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