The top reported proficiency rate is 47% in Social studies. The lowest is 24% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Menominee Jr High School
Menominee Jr High School sits in a small Upper Peninsula city on the Menominee River where it empties into Green Bay. The town pairs with Marinette, Wisconsin across the water, forming a micropolitan area built on manufacturing and tourism. Paper products, auto supplies, helicopter manufacturing through Enstrom Helicopter Corporation, and seasonal tourism anchor the local economy. The downtown waterfront has seen restoration of late nineteenth and early twentieth century buildings in the First Street Historic District, now holding restaurants, galleries, and shops. A bandshell hosts summer concerts and a community festival, and the Great Lakes Memorial Marina anchors the waterfront. Publicly reported data describes a city in long-term population decline, with intermittent fluctuations, and no major new housing developments identified. The housing market is affordable relative to state and national benchmarks, with typical home values well below Michigan and national levels, and a price-to-income ratio that sits low compared with much of the country.
The school itself is a regular public school serving seventh and eighth grades, part of Menominee Area Public Schools. Its enrollment is small for the grade band, and the student body is predominantly white, with a modest Hispanic presence and small shares of other racial and ethnic groups. A substantial portion of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The district recently consolidated: Central Elementary closed, and grades K through 2 moved to Blesch School, renamed Menominee Elementary, leaving the district with two school buildings. The district also reported capital investment in school facilities in a recent fiscal year, pointing to physical plant improvements that affect the learning environment.
On state assessments, the academic picture is mixed and varies sharply by grade and subject. In English language arts, proficiency rises markedly from sixth grade through eighth. The eighth-grade ELA results stand out as a clear strength, with a strong majority of tested students reaching proficiency on the PSAT. Seventh-grade ELA proficiency lands in a middling range, and sixth-grade ELA is lower. Math follows a similar upward trajectory across grades, with eighth-grade math proficiency in the lower-middle range and seventh-grade math below that. Sixth-grade math proficiency is quite low. Science and social studies, tested only in eighth grade, land in the mid-range, with social studies somewhat stronger than science. No participation rate data was available, and multi-year trend data was not provided, so it is not possible to say whether these results represent improvement or decline over time.
Against its comparison set, described as relative to districts in Menominee County, the school's overall proficiency index sits below the midpoint. The county cohort includes a range of outcomes, and this school falls between the lowest and median district, leaving room for growth relative to nearby systems.
Several data gaps are worth naming. IEP and English learner counts were not available. Chronic absenteeism data was not reported. No graduation rate applies here because the school serves only seventh and eighth grades. Course access, staffing, discipline, and attendance details were absent, and no program offerings were listed. A parent looking into the school may want to ask directly about special education services, English learner support, and what enrichment or intervention programs complement the regular curriculum, since none of that appears in the available data.
The clearest takeaway is that eighth-grade ELA is a genuine bright spot, and the general pattern of results improving as students move through the two grades suggests the school is doing something right with older students in reading and writing. Math is the softer area, particularly at the younger end of the grade band, and a parent may want to look into this further with the school. The community context is a small, affordable waterfront town with a working manufacturing base and a restored downtown, paired with a district that has recently restructured its elementary configuration and invested in facilities.
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