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What's the biggest difference between Alward Elementary School and what you expected?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
435
Elementary
DISTRICT 342 · STATE 369
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·HUDSONVILLE PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 261884005559
Alward Elementary School
3811 PORT SHELDON ST, HUDSONVILLE, MI 49426 · (616) 669-6700 · Ottawa County
GRADES PK–04ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL435 STUDENTS
A-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 84% of Michigan public elementary schools
- ATest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- B+Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Michigan public elementary schools
Student : Teacher
15.0:1
29 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.6:1 · STATE 15.8:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
13%
55 students
DISTRICT 17% · STATE 55%
Community
5
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 | 128 | 29% |
| Grade 1 | 63 | 14% |
| Grade 2 | 93 | 21% |
| Grade 3 | 76 | 17% |
| Grade 4 | 75 | 17% |
This year's kindergarten class (128) is 71% larger than its 4th grade class (75).
Student demographics
24%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 27% · 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
Alward Elementary School→56 Building at Georgetown→Baldwin Street Middle School→Hudsonville High School
Based on grade levels within Hudsonville Public School District. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
M-STEP 2024-25 . % Advanced + ProficientEnglish Language Arts
66.8%
MI avg 47.7%
Math
65.8%
MI avg 44.8%
What this means: On the M-STEP, Michigan's statewide test, about 67 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 66 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
66.3%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
60.7%
based on MI schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+5.6pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 66% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 61% 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 Alward Elementary School
Alward Elementary School's state test result (66.3% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alward Elementary School this school | 435 | 12.6% | 66.3% |
| Independence Elementary School CLARKSTON | 446 | 11.4% | 68.6% |
| Crestwood Elementary School ROCKFORD | 469 | 12.4% | 75.7% |
| Murray Lake Elementary LOWELL | 433 | 13.9% | 69.8% |
| Georgetown Elementary School HUDSONVILLE | 450 | 11.3% | 66.8% |
| Sayre Elementary School SOUTH LYON | 450 | 14.0% | 58.1% |
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 Alward Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Michigan | In Ottawa County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 66.3% | #107 of 1,085 | #13 of 48 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 65.8% | #141 of 1,072 | #15 of 47 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 66.8% | #124 of 1,139 | #13 of 49 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 435 | #502 of 1,630 | #10 of 54 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 15.0:1 | #477 of 1,424 | #35 of 51 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 24.0% | #984 of 1,424 | #44 of 51 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 12.6% | #1,481 of 1,563 | #53 of 54 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -8.4% | #642 of 979 | #30 of 38 |
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
435
-35 (-7%) vs 2020
+15% since 1990-91, when it was 378
Student : Teacher
15.0:1
was 16.8:1
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 | 435 | 29.1 | 15.0:1 | 13% (55) |
| 2023-24 | 449 | 28.2 | 15.9:1 | 20% (90) |
| 2022-23 | 497 | 31.3 | 15.9:1 | 13% (66) |
| 2020-21 | 470 | 28 | 16.8:1 | 18% (84) |
| 2017-18 | 475 | 25.5 | 18.6:1 | 19% (90) |
| 2015-16 | 459 | 24 | 19.1:1 | 15% (71) |
| 2010-11 | 465 | 23 | 20.2:1 | 18% (84) |
| 2000-01 | 486 | 22 | 22.1:1 | 2% (11) |
| 1990-91 | 378 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Alward Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 8% (475 to 435); teachers up 14% (25.5 to 29.1).
About Alward Elementary School
Alward Elementary School serves students in HUDSONVILLE, Michigan, as a medium-sized elementary school. The school had 435 students in pre-K through 4 in 2024-25.
The 12 schools in Hudsonville Public School District enroll 6,654 students altogether, Alward Elementary School among them.
The student body at Alward Elementary School is 87% White. Other reported shares: 6% multiracial, 4% Hispanic, and 3% Black. That is close to the 84% White share among all Ottawa County residents. Pick two students at random and there is a 24% chance they belong to different racial or ethnic groups; that figure is the school's diversity index.
The school employs the equivalent of 29.1 full-time teachers, for a ratio of 15.0:1. That is 0.9 students per teacher below the 15.8:1 average for elementary schools in Michigan. The free or reduced-price lunch rate at Alward Elementary School is 13%. That is lower than the 34% average for public schools in Ottawa County.
allk12 grades Alward Elementary School an A-. The grade compares the school only with Michigan public elementary schools, because each state gives its own test.
Based on student poverty, the model expects 60.7% at Alward Elementary School; the school's average proficiency rate on state tests is 66.3%.
Ottawa County census figures show that the median household income is $90,502, roughly 39% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and about 4% of residents live below the federal poverty line. There are 103 public schools in Ottawa County, enrolling about 42,894 students in all.
The nearest other public school, Park Elemementary School, is about 1.2 miles away. There are at least 8 more public schools inside five miles. By average proficiency, Alward Elementary School is 4th among 7 schools close by.
Federal records code the school's setting as Suburb: Large.
Enrollment is down 7% from 2020-21, when Alward Elementary School had 470 students, to 2024-25, when it had 435. Its ratio of students to teachers was 16.8:1 in 2020-21, and 15.0:1 in 2024-25.
Conversations here can range across school safety, transportation, and start times. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.
Ottawa County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
301,203
Census ACS
Median income
$90,502
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
39%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
4%
Below federal line
Schools in county
103
42,894 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Hudsonville Public School District
- Hudsonville High SchoolHigh · 1,995 students
- Riley Street Middle SchoolMiddle · 688 students
- 56 Building at GeorgetownMiddle · 626 students
- Baldwin Street Middle SchoolMiddle · 610 students
- Georgetown Elementary SchoolElementary · 450 students
- South Elementary SchoolElementary · 391 students
Other schools in HUDSONVILLE
- Hudsonville High SchoolHigh · 1,995 students
- Riley Street Middle SchoolMiddle · 688 students
- 56 Building at GeorgetownMiddle · 626 students
- Baldwin Street Middle SchoolMiddle · 610 students
- Georgetown Elementary SchoolElementary · 450 students
- South Elementary SchoolElementary · 391 students
Nearby schools
- Park Elemementary School1.2 mi · 260
- Georgetown Elementary School1.5 mi · 450
- Jenison Public Schools Early Childhood Center1.7 mi · 189
- El Puente Spanish Immersion1.7 mi · 380
- Baldwin Street Middle School1.7 mi · 610
- Hudsonville High School1.9 mi · 1,995
Frequently asked questions
About Alward Elementary SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Alward Elementary School?
Alward Elementary School enrolls approximately 435 students in grades PK-04.
What age range does Alward Elementary School serve?
Alward Elementary School serves students from grade PK through grade 04.
How many students per teacher at Alward Elementary School?
Approximately 15.0:1 students per teacher at Alward Elementary School.
How diverse is Alward Elementary School?
Alward Elementary School reports a student body of 87% White, 4% Hispanic, 3% Black, 1% Asian, 6% Two or more.
Who oversees Alward Elementary School?
Alward Elementary School is overseen by Hudsonville Public School District in Ottawa County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.