Summary:
Schools in zip code 48768 (Vassar, MI) serve students from kindergarten through 12th grade across three schools within the Vassar Public Schools district, which ranks in the bottom third of Michigan districts and serves a predominantly low-income population.
Vassar Senior High School is the district's largest school, serving grades 6-12 with 427 students. It shows notable strengths in upper-grade social studies and science, with 11th graders exceeding state averages in social studies (44.7% vs. 43.2%) and coming close in science (31.9% vs. 35.2%). However, the school struggles significantly with math—only 12.5% of students are proficient on the SAT math section compared to 26.5% statewide—and 8th grade social studies proficiency dropped sharply from 35% to 21.7% in one year. The school's state ranking has been volatile, swinging from 449th to 252nd to 509th over three years. Central School, the district's elementary school serving grades K-5, shows consistent but modest gaps below state averages across all subjects, with 5th grade math being the weakest area at 17.7% proficiency versus 32.2% statewide. Central does have one bright spot: its chronic absenteeism rate of 22.4% is actually better than the state average of 27.9%.
The most concerning situation is at Clarence Fischer Center, an alternative school with only 15 students serving grades 6-12. This school has a catastrophic 12.5% graduation rate and a 62.5% dropout rate—nearly nine times the state average. With 80% of students eligible for free/reduced lunch and 40% chronically absent, this school serves the district's most vulnerable population, yet it spends about $2,900 less per student than the other district schools. District-wide, chronic absenteeism exceeds state averages at both the high school (33.8%) and alternative school (40%), and math proficiency lags at every grade level, suggesting systemic instructional challenges that begin in elementary school and compound through high school.
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