Clifford H Smart Middle School, Commerce Township MI

Original Research by School Decision on Clifford H Smart Middle School

Clifford H Smart Middle School sits in Commerce Township, a largely residential suburb about a half-hour northwest of Detroit in Oakland County. The township grew from a lakeside resort community into permanent suburban housing, and its identity remains tied to its many lakes, the Huron River, and recreation areas like Proud Lake State Recreation Area. There is no traditional downtown; civic and commercial destinations scatter along arterial roads such as Haggerty Road and Commerce Road. The built environment is car-dependent, with fragmented streets shaped by the lake-heavy geography, and most residents commute elsewhere in Metro Detroit for work. Housing here runs above both state and national benchmarks, with a typical home value in the mid-four-hundreds and a market that has been appreciating modestly. Inventory has been rising year over year, and homes sit on the market a little longer than they did a year ago, so buyers have a touch more room than they once did.

The school is a regular public middle school serving grades six through eight, part of Walled Lake Consolidated Schools. Enrollment is sizable for a middle school, and the student body is predominantly white, with a small Hispanic population and smaller groups of students identifying as two or more races, Black, Asian, or American Indian and Alaska Native. About a quarter of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which is a relatively low share. Data on special education and English learner populations was not available, so it is not possible to characterize those supports here.

On state assessments, Clifford H Smart posts strong results, particularly in English language arts. Eighth-grade ELA proficiency is especially high, with the large majority of tested students meeting or exceeding benchmark. Sixth and seventh-grade ELA proficiency rates are solidly above the midpoint as well. Math proficiency holds near the halfway mark across all three grades, steady but not as strong as the reading results. Eighth-grade science and social studies proficiency are both well above the midpoint, with social studies particularly high. Taken together, the school's overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades places it in the top quartile relative to districts in Oakland County, which is a strong standing given the county's size and the number of districts in the comparison set.

Trend data was not available, so it is not possible to say whether these results are improving, holding, or slipping relative to prior years. Participation rates were also missing from the data. Chronic absenteeism figures were not reported for this school, and because it serves only middle grades, there is no graduation rate to report. The district brief turned up little on recent bond referendums, curriculum changes, or facility projects beyond a passing mention of a new elementary school groundbreaking in Wixom, which does not directly affect this campus.

Commerce Township itself is experiencing steady population growth, transitioning further from its resort-lake origins toward full suburban residential development. The foreign-born population and the share of residents speaking a language other than English at home are both modest, pointing to some demographic diversification alongside that growth. The township's lake-heavy geography and high property values constrain large-scale development, which keeps the area's character intact but also limits what new housing or commercial projects can take root.

For a parent, Clifford H Smart reads as a solidly performing middle school in an affluent, lake-oriented suburb. Its ELA, science, and social studies results stand out, and its overall proficiency places it near the top among Oakland County districts. Math is the area where a parent may want to look into further with the school, since proficiency there is decent but trails the reading results by a fair margin. The community is quiet, car-dependent, and residential, with housing costs that reflect the desirability of the lakefront setting. Families drawn to outdoor recreation and suburban space will find the fit natural; those seeking walkability or a traditional downtown will not find it here.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 646%

School 46% · District 46%

▲ 18 pts above state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

Grade 751%

School 51% · District 48% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▲ 22 pts above state median · ▲ 11 pts above county median

Grade 850%

School 50% · District 45% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 22 pts above state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 653%

School 53% · District 48% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 20 pts above state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

Grade 761%

School 61% · District 53% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▲ 27 pts above state median · ▲ 13 pts above county median

Grade 882%

School 82% · District 78% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 19 pts above state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

Science

Grade 867%

School 67% · District 60% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▲ 30 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 874%

School 74% · District 67% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▲ 31 pts above state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

This schoolWalled Lake Consolidated 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-income42%Higher-income58%15 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income42%Higher-income65%24 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income61%Higher-income86%25 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income35%Higher-income51%16 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income38%Higher-income54%16 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income28%Higher-income54%26 pp gap