Atlanta Community Schools, Atlanta MI

Original Research by School Decision on Atlanta Community Schools

Atlanta Community Schools is a single-building public school district serving pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade in Atlanta, Michigan, the small unincorporated county seat of Montmorency County. The school sits at the crossroads of M-32 and M-33 in a rural, forested stretch of northern Michigan. Atlanta is known publicly as the Elk Capital of Michigan, a designation that reflects its identity as a vacation, hunting, and fishing destination rather than a commercial hub. Clear Lake State Park and several state forest campgrounds sit nearby. The Thunder Bay River flows through the community. Publicly reported sources describe a place experiencing population contraction, with no major housing developments or growth projects on the horizon.

The school itself is small, with roughly two dozen students per grade level. The student body is almost entirely white, and a substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The economic context is consistent with what the surrounding community shows. Median home values in the school's zip code sit well below both the Michigan and national benchmarks, and the price-to-income ratio suggests relative affordability compared to much of the state. For a family looking at housing costs, this is one of the more accessible markets in Michigan, though that affordability comes with the trade-offs of a remote, low-density setting with limited commercial infrastructure and no identified public transit.

On state assessments, Atlanta Community Schools shows mixed results across subjects and grade levels. In math, proficiency rates are generally low, with several grades showing only a fraction of students meeting benchmarks and one grade band reporting no proficient students at all. ELA results are more uneven. The eighth-grade PSAT ELA proficiency rate stands out as a clear bright spot, with a strong share of students demonstrating proficiency. Middle-grade social studies results also show a solid portion of students meeting standards at the eighth-grade level. Science results are softer, with one tested grade showing no proficient students and another reaching about a quarter proficiency. These results place the school in the top quartile relative to districts in Montmorency County for overall proficiency, though the comparison set is small, consisting of only two districts. A parent may want to look into the middle-grade math results and science outcomes further with the school, as those are the areas where the data is weakest.

No graduation rate, chronic absenteeism, IEP, or English learner data was available in the provided materials. For a school that spans all grade levels through twelfth grade, the absence of graduation data is a gap a family would want to fill by asking the district directly. No information on course access, staffing ratios, discipline, or program offerings was provided either, so the picture here is limited to enrollment, demographics, assessment results, and the surrounding community context.

The district brief turned up no parent-relevant changes with lasting impact from recent years. The locale brief confirms what the setting suggests: this is a quiet, rural community where the school functions as a primary civic anchor. With enrollment this small, class sizes are intimate and students stay in the same building from early childhood through senior year. That continuity can be a real strength for families who want their children known by the same staff across all grade levels. It also means the peer pool is narrow, and academic programming likely depends on the capacity of a small staff.

Families drawn to outdoor life, a low cost of living, and a tight-knit rural setting may find Atlanta Community Schools a fitting environment. Families seeking broad course offerings, specialized services, or a larger peer group may find the scale limiting and would benefit from a direct conversation with the school about what the upper grades specifically provide.

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Academic performance

State test results and graduation outcomes.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

>=50%Cohort of 12 students · Class of 2021

The federal source publishes a banded range instead of an exact rate when the graduating cohort is small enough that an exact number could risk identifying individual students.

How this school compares to all schools in this state

Each dot is one school’s SY 2020-21 graduation rate, binned by integer rate. Taller columns mean more schools at that rate. This school is highlighted.

1,027 schools plotted. 80 additional schools' rates are federally suppressed and not shown. Data: EDFacts SY 2020-21.

Math

Grade 325%

School 25% · District 25%

▼ 17 pts below state median

Grade 438%

School 38% · District 38%

▼ 1 pts below state median

Grade 529%

School 29% · District 29%

▼ 3 pts below state median

Grade 719%

School 19% · District 19%

▼ 9 pts below state median

Grade 820%

School 20% · District 20%

▼ 7 pts below state median

English language arts

Grade 340%

School 40% · District 40%

▲ 2 pts above state median

Grade 431%

School 31% · District 31%

▼ 9 pts below state median

Grade 529%

School 29% · District 29%

▼ 14 pts below state median

Grade 715%

School 15% · District 15%

▼ 19 pts below state median

Grade 873%

School 73% · District 73%

▲ 11 pts above state median

Science

Grade 827%

School 27% · District 27%

▼ 11 pts below state median

Social studies

Grade 521%

School 21% · District 21%

▼ 7 pts below state median

Grade 847%

School 47% · District 47%

▲ 4 pts above state median

This schoolAtlanta Community Schools, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.