Summary:
Zip code 49040 is home to just one high school, Colon High School, which serves grades 6 through 12 within the Colon Community School District in this small, rural Michigan community.
For parents considering Colon High School, the most encouraging news is its strong graduation rate of 91.1%, well above the state average of 84.0%, paired with a very low dropout rate of just 2.9%. The school also shows genuine strengths in science, where 11th graders (38.5% proficient) and 8th graders (40.6% proficient) meet or exceed state averages, and 8th-grade English Language Arts is a bright spot at 66.7% proficiency. However, these positives are tempered by serious challenges. Mathematics proficiency is critically low across all grade levels, with only 7.32% of 10th graders and 6.67% of 9th graders scoring proficient on the PSAT Math, compared to state averages above 31%. This math struggle appears to worsen as students advance, with 8th-grade PSAT Math proficiency at 30.3% dropping dramatically by 9th grade. Additionally, chronic absenteeism affects 36.3% of students, significantly higher than the state's 27.9%, which likely contributes to learning gaps.
With 271 students and a student-to-teacher ratio of 15.2, Colon High School offers a small, close-knit environment where roughly 45% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch. The district invests a substantial $15,054 per student, yet the math scores remain among the lowest in the state, raising questions about how those resources are being used. The school's state ranking has improved slightly to 526 out of 800, but the inconsistency between strong science and ELA performance versus failing math scores suggests a systemic issue that parents should investigate. While the high graduation rate is commendable, families should ask the school about specific math interventions and strategies to address chronic absenteeism, as these two factors appear to be the biggest obstacles to student success.
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