The top reported proficiency rate is 41% in Social studies. The lowest is 23% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Clare Middle School
Clare Middle School sits in the heart of a small mid-Michigan city that calls itself the "Crossroads of Michigan," at the junction of two U.S. highways. The school serves grades five through eight as part of Clare Public Schools, a district centrally located within the city and drawing from the southeastern corner of Clare County and a slice of neighboring Isabella County. The campus is integrated into the small city footprint rather than set apart on the edge of town, and the downtown historic district along North McEwan Street sits nearby. This is a regular public school with no charter or magnet designation.
The enrollment is moderate for a middle school, spread fairly evenly across the four grade levels. The student body is largely white, with a small Hispanic presence and very few students from other racial or ethnic backgrounds. A little over half the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which gives the school a working-class to lower-middle-income character. Data on special education enrollment and English learner status was not available, so those populations cannot be characterized here.
Academically, the most recent state assessment results paint a mixed picture that shifts notably by grade and subject. In math, proficiency runs low across the fifth through seventh grades, with roughly one in five students meeting the standard. Eighth grade tells a different story, with the PSAT math result landing closer to a third of students proficient, a clear improvement over the earlier grades. English language arts follows a similar arc but with a more dramatic turn. Fifth through seventh grade ELA proficiency sits in the mid-twenties to low thirties, but the eighth grade PSAT ELA result jumps to a strong majority of students proficient. That eighth grade ELA number is the school's standout, suggesting that something is clicking for students as they prepare to transition to high school.
Science and social studies results are stronger than math across the board. Fifth grade science and social studies both land around a third of students proficient. By eighth grade, science approaches the mid-forties and social studies nears half the class proficient. Taken together, the school's overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades places it above the midpoint among districts in Clare County, which is a reasonably small comparison set.
The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report. Chronic absenteeism data was not available. Discipline, course access, staffing, and attendance details were also missing from the available data, so those dimensions of school life cannot be described here. A parent may want to look into these areas further with the school directly.
Clare itself is a small city with a working economic base in auto parts and plastics manufacturing, metal fabrication, food processing, and tourism. Its daytime population more than doubles during the workweek, reflecting a commuter inflow from surrounding areas. The Tobacco River runs through the city, Lake Shamrock sits within city limits, and the Pere Marquette Rail-Trail has its western terminus here, giving residents access to multi-use recreational trails. An annual Irish Festival draws thousands of visitors. The housing market is affordable by national standards, with typical home values well below the state and national benchmarks, and recent appreciation has been brisk. The price-to-income ratio is modest, suggesting that buying a home in the attendance zone is within reach for many local families relative to what they earn.
The district brief turned up little in the way of publicly reported changes, so there are no recent program launches, facility shifts, or strategic priorities to relay. What a parent is left with is a straightforward middle school in an affordable, centrally located small city, with math as a clear soft spot and eighth grade ELA as a genuine bright spot. The progression from fifth to eighth grade in several subjects suggests growth over time, particularly in reading and writing, which is worth understanding better when visiting or speaking with staff.
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