Summary:
Zip code 49601 is home to just one middle school, Mackinaw Trail Middle School, which serves grades 6-8 and is part of the Cadillac Area Public Schools district.
Mackinaw Trail Middle School stands out as a high-achieving school despite facing significant challenges. With 683 students and a student-teacher ratio of 17.3, the school has a majority low-income population, as 52% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch. Its chronic absenteeism rate of 28.5% is slightly above the state average of 27.9%. Yet, the school consistently outperforms state averages in math and science by wide margins. For example, in the 2025-2026 school year, 7th-grade math proficiency reached 55.4% compared to the state's 33.3%, and 8th-grade science proficiency was 53% versus the state's 39.2%. The school has earned a 4-star rating for three consecutive years and ranks in the top 20% of Michigan middle schools, coming in at 175th out of 896 schools.
The school's biggest relative weakness is English Language Arts (ELA). While M-Step ELA scores remain above state averages, the advantage is much smaller than in STEM subjects. More concerning, 8th-grade PSAT ELA scores actually fell below the state average (63.5% vs. 64.8%). Additionally, the school saw notable declines in 8th-grade science (from 59.6% to 53%) and social studies (from 59.3% to 54.6%) between the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 school years. On a positive note, 7th-grade math and ELA both improved year-over-year. Since Mackinaw Trail is the only middle school in its district, its performance directly reflects the district's overall ranking of 194th out of 625 Michigan districts. For parents, this school offers strong STEM instruction but may warrant attention to literacy support, especially as students approach high school.
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