Summary:
The city of South Rockwood, Michigan has only one public elementary school, Fred W Ritter Elementary School, which serves grades PK-4 with an enrollment of 280 students. The school's student population is predominantly White (87.5%), with smaller percentages of Hispanic (4.64%), African American (2.5%), and students of two or more races (5.36%). However, the school's academic performance, as measured by M-Step test scores, is generally below the Airport Community Schools district and state averages in both English Language Arts and Math for grades 3 and 4.
Fred W Ritter Elementary School's proficiency rates range from 26% to 38.3% in ELA and 23.4% to 33.3% in Math, compared to district averages of 44.7% to 47.7% in ELA and 49.5% to 51.3% in Math. The school's performance has declined over the past three years, with its statewide ranking dropping from 468 out of 1,344 Michigan elementary schools in 2021-2022 to 1,033 out of 1,486 in 2023-2024. Additionally, the school has a high chronic absenteeism rate of 38.4% for the 2022-2023 school year, which may be a contributing factor to its academic struggles.
The high percentage of students (68.93%) eligible for free or reduced-price lunch at Fred W Ritter Elementary School indicates a relatively low-income student population, which can present additional challenges in terms of academic support and resources. The combination of low academic performance, high chronic absenteeism, and socioeconomic challenges suggests a need for targeted interventions and support to address these issues and improve student outcomes at the school.
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