Middle School South, Harrison Township MI

Original Research by School Decision on Middle School South

Middle School South sits on Jefferson Avenue in Harrison Township, part of L'Anse Creuse Public Schools. It is a regular public school serving grades six through eight, drawing from a primarily residential community along the northwestern shore of Lake St. Clair in Macomb County. The school is mid-sized for a middle school, with roughly even distribution across its three grade levels.

The student body reflects a mixed community. A majority of students identify as white, with a substantial share identifying as Black and a smaller portion representing two or more races. Well over half of the school's students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a working-class enrollment. Data on students with individualized education programs and English learners was not available in the provided records.

On state assessments, the school's results paint a mixed picture. In English language arts, sixth and seventh grade proficiency rates sit in the moderate range on the M-STEP, while eighth grade results on the PSAT show a much stronger showing, with a clear majority of tested students reaching proficiency. That eighth-grade ELA result stands out as the school's brightest academic signal. Math, by contrast, is a softer area across all three grades, with proficiency declining from sixth through eighth. Science and social studies, both tested in eighth grade on M-STEP, land in the moderate range, with social studies slightly ahead of science. A parent weighing this school may want to look into math support and intervention structures with the school directly.

When positioned against other districts in Macomb County, Middle School South's overall proficiency index falls below the midpoint. The county set includes more than three dozen districts, and this school sits closer to the lower half than the upper. That said, the county range is wide, and the school is not near the bottom. No multi-year trend data was available, so it is not possible to say whether performance is improving or declining over time.

Harrison Township itself is a car-dependent suburban bedroom community. Single-family residential subdivisions dominate, with commercial strips along major roads rather than a walkable downtown. Selfridge Air National Guard Base occupies a large northern portion of the township, shaping both the local economy and the available land for development. Lake St. Clair Metropark serves as the primary recreational anchor, and the Clinton River flows through the township to its mouth at the lake. The township borders Mount Clemens, the county seat, which offers the nearest traditional downtown. The community is mature and stable, with slight population decline in recent years and little new development activity. The housing stock is established, and the large military installation constrains available land for growth.

Housing in the school's zip code is relatively affordable compared with state and national benchmarks. Home values sit below the statewide typical home value, and rents are modest. The broader Macomb County market shows growing inventory, with active listings up year over year, and homes spending a little over a month on market. Mortgage costs and rents both remain within a manageable range relative to typical incomes, making the area accessible for families.

The provided data did not include program offerings, course access details, staffing ratios, attendance or chronic absenteeism figures, discipline data, or civil-rights-related outcomes. L'Anse Creuse Public Schools is headquartered in neighboring Clinton Township, and no district-level parent-relevant changes were identified in the research. Families considering Middle School South would benefit from asking the school directly about academic support in mathematics, enrichment opportunities tied to the strong eighth-grade ELA performance, and any extracurricular or elective offerings, since those details were not available in the records reviewed.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 626%

School 26% · District 31% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

Grade 719%

School 19% · District 26% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▼ 10 pts below state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

Grade 817%

School 17% · District 28% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 635%

School 35% · District 39% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Grade 729%

School 29% · District 36% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Grade 867%

School 67% · District 73% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Science

Grade 829%

School 29% · District 40% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 8 pts below state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 838%

School 38% · District 47% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

This schoolL'Anse Creuse Public 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.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 6Lower-income33%Higher-income39%6 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income22%Higher-income40%18 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income58%Higher-income77%20 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income20%Higher-income37%17 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income12%Higher-income30%18 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income9%Higher-income26%17 pp gap