Enrollment
308
Elementary
DISTRICT 237 · STATE 369
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·IONIA PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 261925005600
AA Rather School
380 E TUTTLE RD, IONIA, MI 48846 · (616) 527-1720 · Ionia County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY32-TOWNTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL308 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
20.1:1
15 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 18.2:1 · STATE 15.8:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
51%
157 students
DISTRICT 61% · STATE 55%
Community
0
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten | 55 | 18% |
| Grade 1 | 48 | 16% |
| Grade 2 | 45 | 15% |
| Grade 3 | 51 | 17% |
| Grade 4 | 51 | 17% |
| Grade 5 | 58 | 19% |
This year's kindergarten class (55) is 5% smaller than its 5th grade class (58).
Student demographics
27%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 31% · STATE 56% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
School pathway
Students here typically continue to
Based on grade levels within Ionia Public Schools. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
M-STEP 2024-25 . % Advanced + ProficientEnglish Language Arts
50.0%
MI avg 47.7%
Math
35.5%
MI avg 44.8%
What this means: On the M-STEP, Michigan's statewide test, about 50 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 36 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Michigan schools, those numbers are about 48 and 45.
Source: M-STEP. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
41.4%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
43.7%
based on MI schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-2.3pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 41% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 44% typical for Michigan schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Michigan's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like AA Rather School
AA Rather School's state test result (41.4% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Rather School this school | 308 | 51.0% | 41.4% |
| Robert D Brandon Elem School MARTIN | 299 | 50.2% | 42.9% |
| Shettler School MUSKEGON | 293 | 50.9% | 51.7% |
| Loren Eyler Elementary School CARLETON | 292 | 51.7% | 51.4% |
| Capac Elementary School CAPAC | 326 | 52.5% | 34.5% |
| North Elementary School ITHACA | 295 | 50.8% | 33.1% |
Matched among Michigan elementary schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where AA Rather School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Michigan | In Ionia County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 41.4% | #678 of 1,085 | #5 of 9 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 35.5% | #785 of 1,072 | #8 of 9 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 50.0% | #487 of 1,139 | #2 of 10 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 308 | #1,055 of 1,630 | #7 of 15 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 20.1:1 | #1,349 of 1,424 | #10 of 10 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 26.9% | #892 of 1,424 | #3 of 10 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 51.0% | #875 of 1,563 | #7 of 12 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -8.3% | #647 of 979 | #5 of 8 |
Ranked against other public elementary schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
308
-23 (-7%) vs 2020
+21% since 1990-91, when it was 255
Student : Teacher
20.1:1
was 20.7:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 308 | 15.3 | 20.1:1 | 51% (157) |
| 2023-24 | 321 | 15.5 | 20.7:1 | 55% (176) |
| 2022-23 | 321 | 18 | 17.9:1 | 60% (194) |
| 2020-21 | 331 | 16 | 20.7:1 | 47% (157) |
| 2017-18 | 336 | 15.1 | 22.3:1 | 53% (177) |
| 2015-16 | 318 | 15 | 21.2:1 | 49% (157) |
| 2010-11 | 316 | 16 | 19.8:1 | 47% (150) |
| 2000-01 | 309 | 17 | 18.2:1 | 43% (134) |
| 1990-91 | 255 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for AA Rather School.
Since 2017-18: students down 8% (336 to 308); teachers up 1% (15.1 to 15.3).
About AA Rather School
AA Rather School operates as a low-enrollment elementary school in IONIA, Michigan. Its 308 students are spread across pre-K through 5.
AA Rather School is in Ionia Public Schools, a district with 2,659 students across 8 schools.
The large majority of students at AA Rather School, 85%, are White. The next largest groups are 10% Hispanic and 4% multiracial. County-wide, about 87% of residents are White. By the diversity index, AA Rather School comes in at 27%.
The school's student-to-teacher ratio is about 20.1:1, with 15.3 full-time-equivalent teachers. Among elementary schools in Michigan, the typical ratio is 15.8:1. Lunch subsidy eligibility at AA Rather School is 51%. That is close to the 52% average for public schools in Ionia County.
On a poverty-adjusted basis, AA Rather School falls in the middle 80% of Michigan schools: 41.4% actual against 43.7% predicted.
Within Ionia County, median household income is about $75,611, about 19% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and roughly 7% of residents are in poverty. Federal data list 30 public schools in Ionia County, with a combined enrollment of about 10,506.
The closest public school, Ionia High School, is about 0.2 miles from AA Rather School. Within five miles are at least 8 other public schools. The average proficiency across nearby scored schools is 38.5%; AA Rather School's is 41.4%, ranking 1st of 4.
Federal data place AA Rather School in the Town: Distant locale, which means it is in a town some distance from an urbanized area.
From 2020-21 to 2024-25, AA Rather School went from 331 students to 308.
The AA Rather School community page is open for posts about school events, clubs, and volunteer needs. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.
Ionia County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
66,574
Census ACS
Median income
$75,611
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
19%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
30
10,506 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Ionia Public Schools
- Ionia High SchoolHigh · 774 students
- Ionia Middle SchoolMiddle · 629 students
- Jefferson SchoolElementary · 272 students
- RB Boyce Elementary SchoolElementary · 254 students
- Twin Rivers Elementary SchoolElementary · 183 students
- Emerson SchoolElementary · 166 students
Other schools in IONIA
- Ionia High SchoolHigh · 774 students
- Ionia Middle SchoolMiddle · 629 students
- Jefferson SchoolElementary · 272 students
- RB Boyce Elementary SchoolElementary · 254 students
- Emerson SchoolElementary · 166 students
- Freedom Acres SchoolCombined · 107 students
Nearby schools
- Ionia High School0.2 mi · 774
- Douglas R Welch High School0.2 mi · 73
- Freedom Acres School1.2 mi · 107
- Emerson School2.3 mi · 166
- Ionia Middle School2.4 mi · 629
- Jefferson School2.5 mi · 272
Frequently asked questions
About AA Rather SchoolHow large is AA Rather School?
AA Rather School enrolls approximately 308 students in grades PK-05.
Is AA Rather School an elementary, middle, or high school?
AA Rather School is an elementary school covering grades PK-05.
How many teachers does AA Rather School have?
AA Rather School employs 15 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 20.1:1.
What is the racial breakdown of students at AA Rather School?
At AA Rather School, the student body is approximately 85% White, 10% Hispanic, 1% Black, 4% Two or more.
Is AA Rather School public or private?
AA Rather School is a public K-12 school, overseen by Ionia Public Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.