The top reported proficiency rate is 49% in English language arts. The lowest is 21% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Holt Junior High School
Holt Junior High School serves seventh and eighth graders in the Holt Public Schools district, anchoring the transition years between elementary and high school for families in this unincorporated community south of Lansing. The school sits on Aurelius Road in Holt, a census-designated place within Delhi Charter Township that functions as a residential suburb of the Lansing metro area. Holt grew rapidly over recent decades as its boundaries expanded, though publicly reported data suggests the community's population has plateaued in the last couple of years. The built environment is car-dependent, with single-family neighborhoods, strip commercial corridors along Cedar Street, and no traditional walkable downtown. A farmers' market and several parks, including William Burchfield Park with its beachfront swimming area and trails, serve as community gathering points. Capital Area Transportation Authority Route 8 connects Holt to Lansing.
The junior high's enrollment is sizable for a two-grade school, with students split nearly evenly across seventh and eighth grades. About half of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The student body is diverse: roughly half white, with meaningful representation of Black, Hispanic, multiracial, and Asian students. Data on English learners and students with individualized education programs was not reported, so those populations could not be characterized here.
Academic results from the most recent state assessments paint a mixed picture. English language arts is the school's clear strength. Eighth-grade ELA proficiency, measured through the PSAT, was strong, with a majority of students reaching proficiency. Seventh-grade ELA, assessed via M-STEP, showed a more modest but still solid share of students proficient. Social studies and science results for eighth grade landed in the middle range, with roughly a third to nearly half of students proficient.
Mathematics is the soft spot. Seventh-grade math proficiency was low, and eighth-grade math was lower still. These results stand in contrast to the school's ELA performance and suggest that a substantial portion of students are arriving at or leaving the junior high without grade-level math skills. A parent may want to look into this further with the school, asking what interventions, tutoring, or curricular supports are in place for students who are below proficiency in math.
When measured against other districts in Ingham County, Holt Junior High's overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades sits above the midpoint. That positioning reflects how the strong ELA and social studies results pull the aggregate up despite the math deficit. Because the school serves only seventh and eighth grades, there is no graduation rate, and that absence reflects the grade band rather than a missing outcome.
The school does not have a charter or magnet designation. It operates as a regular public school within Holt Public Schools, a district that also serves the Dimondale community across Ingham and Eaton counties. In 2021, district voters approved a bond proposal funding facility improvements, technology upgrades, and security enhancements across schools, which may mean updated learning spaces for junior high students, though specific project details for this building were not available in the provided data.
Housing in the 48842 zip code is relatively affordable compared with national benchmarks, with typical home values below both the state and national medians. Rents have risen at a faster clip recently, and the gap between monthly rent and an estimated mortgage payment is modest, meaning both renting and buying are viable options for families moving into the area. The price-to-income ratio sits near three, which is manageable by national standards.
Data on staffing ratios, course access, discipline, attendance, and chronic absenteeism was not available for this school. Program offerings such as advanced coursework, extracurriculars, or specialized electives were not reported either. Families considering Holt Junior High would benefit from asking the school directly about teacher retention, available electives, and supports for students performing below grade level, particularly in math. The combination of strong literacy outcomes, a diverse peer environment, and an above-midcounty proficiency profile makes this a school where a motivated student can thrive, especially if the family is attentive to the math gap.
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