Original Research by School Decision on Harrison Alternative Education
Harrison Alternative Education is a small alternative school within Harrison Community Schools, serving grades eight through eleven from a campus on West Spruce Street in Harrison, Michigan. As an alternative school, it exists outside the structure of a traditional comprehensive school, and that shape explains much of what is and is not available in its data.
The school serves a very small enrollment, spread across its four grade levels. A substantial majority of its students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The student body is predominantly white, with a small number of Hispanic students and students of two or more races. Data on individualized education programs and English learners was not reported, so those details are absent here rather than implied.
State assessment results for the most recent year were suppressed across all subjects: math, English language arts, science, and social studies. The tested student count was zero in each case. This is a pattern that often reflects the nature of an alternative school with a very small population, where fewer students fall into tested grade bands and privacy suppression rules apply. A parent may want to ask the school directly how it tracks academic progress and what internal measures it uses, since state testing data does not provide a window here. No multi-year academic trend data was available, and no graduation rate was reported. The school's grade range, which ends at grade eleven rather than twelve, partly explains the absence of a graduation figure. No chronic absenteeism, discipline, course access, or staffing data was provided, and no program offerings were listed. The comparison set against districts in Clare County could not position this school on proficiency, graduation, or attendance, because the underlying values were missing.
Harrison itself is the Clare County seat, a small city that began as a lumber settlement with sawmills on Budd Lake. Publicly reported sources describe it as an outdoor recreation hub, drawing visitors for Wilson State Park, the Clare County Fair, and the many surrounding lakes. The city has a historic downtown along Main Street and First Street, anchored by Town Square Park with its band shell and splash pad, and Saxton Park on Budd Lake with a boardwalk and overlook. Niche characterizes Harrison as attracting retirees, and a sizable housing vacancy rate points to a seasonal or second-home presence. The town is largely car-oriented, with no public transit system identified in available sources.
The broader district context matters for any family considering this school. Harrison Community Schools consolidated its educational facilities onto a main campus southwest of downtown after expanding Larson Elementary in 2021, funded by a voter-approved millage that also upgraded the middle and high schools. Mid Michigan Community College operates a campus just southeast of the city. More recently, the school board voted in March 2025 to close Harrison Middle School due to a budget deficit, with middle-grade students redistributed into the elementary and high school buildings starting in the 2025-2026 year. The closure was attributed to declining enrollment and state funding reductions. Voters also approved a restored non-homestead operating millage in November 2024 to fund district operations.
Housing in the area is relatively affordable compared with state and national benchmarks, with typical home values well below the Michigan median. Mortgage rates have been hovering in the mid-six-percent range. Price-to-income affordability sits above the national midpoint, meaning local incomes stretch less easily against home prices than they do in many parts of the country, though absolute housing costs remain low.
For a family weighing Harrison Alternative Education, the available data paints a limited picture. The school is very small, serves a high-need student population, and operates within a district navigating enrollment decline and structural budget pressure. State academic results do not provide a usable read, and many of the metrics families typically rely on were not reported. The school's alternative designation and small size likely explain some of these gaps, but a parent would need to contact the school directly to understand how it supports students, what its academic pathway looks like, and how it fits within the restructured district.
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