Summary:
Union Public School District has one middle school, Union Middle School, serving 286 students in grades 5 through 8 in a high-poverty area, with nearly 99% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.
Union Middle School stands out for its strong academic performance despite serving a student population with exceptional economic need. This 4-star school outperforms the state average in nearly every subject and grade level in both 2024-2025 and 2025-2026. Mathematics is a clear strength: 6th grade math reached 69.5% proficiency in the latest year, a remarkable 16.8 percentage points above the state average, while the prior year's 5th grade math was 17.9 points above the state. The school also excels at keeping students in class, with a chronic absenteeism rate of just 13.4% compared to 23.9% statewide. The 8th grade science program deserves special praise — in 2024-2025, proficiency was an impressive 74.3%, a staggering 19.6 points above the state.
However, there are notable concerns. The most dramatic issue is a sharp drop in 8th grade science, which fell 20 percentage points to 54.3% in 2025-2026, now slightly below the state average. Eighth grade ELA also declined steeply, from 59.4% to 43.7% proficiency, though it remains above the state. Looking at the most recent year, 5th grade performance is the strongest, while 8th grade is the weakest, suggesting the upper grades may need extra support. Additionally, while the school has kept its 4-star rating for three years, its statewide percentile rank has slipped from the 82nd to the 71st percentile, meaning peer schools are improving faster. These trends are worth monitoring, as Union Public School District families benefit from a generally strong middle school that is seeing some recent softening in its older grades.
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