Summary:
Middle Schools in zip code 49437 consist of a single school, Nellie B Chisholm Middle School, serving grades 6 through 8 within the Montague Area Public Schools district, with 307 students enrolled.
For parents considering this area, Nellie B Chisholm Middle School offers a mixed but generally solid academic profile. The school ranks 304th out of 896 Michigan middle schools (66th percentile), earning a 3-star rating. Its clearest strength is in 8th grade, where students significantly outperform the state: 58.8% are proficient in Social Studies (vs. 50.3% statewide) and 70.6% meet the PSAT English Language Arts benchmark (vs. 64.8% statewide). The 8th-grade cohort also shows strong science scores (44.5% proficient) and above-average PSAT math (37.8% vs. 33.2%). In 7th grade, math proficiency is also a bright spot at 39.1%, beating the state average of 33.3%. However, 6th-grade performance lags, with both ELA (30.7%) and math (25.8%) falling below state averages (37.5% and 31.9%, respectively). Notably, 6th-grade math dropped sharply from 37.1% to 25.8% year-over-year, a trend worth monitoring.
Beyond test scores, the school serves a moderate-need population, with 41.4% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. Chronic absenteeism stands at 27.4%, slightly above the district average of 24.5% but on par with the state. The district invests $15,584 per student, a substantial figure, yet this does not translate into top-quartile results across all subjects. The student-teacher ratio is 16.3:1. Overall, this is a school where 8th graders thrive, but younger grades—especially 6th—show inconsistent progress. Parents may want to ask how the school plans to address the math decline and absenteeism, while feeling confident that strong 8th-grade outcomes suggest effective instructional strategies exist within the building.
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