Summary:
Zip code 48740, encompassing the Harrisville, MI area, is served by a single elementary school, Alcona Elementary School, which educates students in grades K-5 within the Alcona Community Schools district.
Alcona Elementary School is a small, rural school with 318 students and a favorable student-teacher ratio of 13.1:1, allowing for more individualized attention. However, the school faces significant challenges, with 80.5% of its students eligible for free or reduced lunch, indicating a predominantly low-income community. Academically, proficiency rates on the M-Step are well below state averages across all subjects. For example, 3rd-grade English Language Arts proficiency is just 12.1% compared to the state average of roughly 40%, and 5th-grade math proficiency is a critically low 9.76% versus a state average near 35%. The school's state ranking has also plummeted from the 27th percentile in 2024-2025 to the 10th percentile in 2025-2026, reflecting a sharp and concerning academic decline.
Despite these struggles, there are some notable points. The school spends a substantial $17,179 per student, which is high, yet this financial investment has not translated into strong test scores, highlighting a spending-versus-performance paradox likely tied to the high poverty rate. On a positive note, chronic absenteeism at 20.9% is significantly better than the district average of 31.5%, showing the school is relatively effective at getting students to class. Additionally, 5th-grade science is a relative strength, with a 29.3% proficiency rate that, while below the state average, remains the school's highest-performing subject. Since this is the only elementary school in the district, its data fully represents the district's elementary education efforts, making its successes and challenges entirely its own.
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