Northern High School

Northern High School is one of the large four-year high schools in GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan, one of the schools within Forest Hills Public Schools, with 1,088 students on its rolls from grades 9 through 12. Enrollment runs roughly 137% above the state mean of about 460.

Northern High School is one of 18 schools operated by Forest Hills Public Schools, a district that teaches 8,797 students overall.

On demographics, Northern High School reports that 71% of the student body identifies as White. Beyond that, the school logs 8% Hispanic, 8% Asian, 7% Black, 6% multiracial. Compared to Kent County overall, the school's racial mix sits in roughly the same range.

On the resource side, On paper, Northern High School has 70 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 15.5:1. The state averages around 21.6:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. An estimated 18% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. Set against Kent County (around 47%), the school's rate is south of typical.

Around the school, the surrounding county (Kent County) logs that median household earnings sit near $82,631, 41% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 6%. Northern High School is one of 239 public schools in Kent County (combined enrollment of about 97,253 students).

The closest other public school is Forest Hills Transition Center, roughly 0.2 miles away. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius.

Geographically, the school is in a residential area.

Trend over the last 7 years. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Northern High School has decreased 5%, going from 1,143 students in 2018 to 1,088 in 2025. Class-load math has fell: from 18.7:1 in 2018 to 15.5:1 in 2025.

Within the allk12 community for this school, the feed for Northern High School typically covers science fair prep, picture-day reminders, and bus-route questions. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.