Shay Elementary School

As a modestly sized elementary-level community in HARBOR SPGS, Michigan, Shay Elementary School educates 258 students from grades K through 4, one of the schools within Harbor Springs School District. Compared to the state average of about 369 students per school, that is 30% leaner than typical.

Shay Elementary School is one of 3 schools operated by Harbor Springs School District, a district that instructs 751 students overall.

On the student-mix side, Shay Elementary School shows that the student body is overwhelmingly White (88%). The remainder reads as 5% Hispanic, 5% multiracial. That mix tracks the wider county fairly closely.

Looking at school resources, On paper, Shay Elementary School has 21 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 12.3:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 15.8:1, putting Shay Elementary School tighter than the state norm the norm. Roughly 23% of students at Shay Elementary School qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. That share is lower than Emmet County's rate of about 32%.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Shay Elementary School falls in the UNDERPERFORMING tier of the BeatsExpectations residual. Given its student profile, a typical campus would land near 56.0%; this one comes in at 44.2%, -11.8 points off the demographic line.

In the area at large, census data for Emmet County shows median household income runs about $78,112, 42% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 6%. Across Emmet County's 16 public schools (combined enrollment of about 4,138 students), Shay Elementary School is one campus in the mix.

Nearest neighbor: Harbor Springs Middle School, around 0.1 miles off. Within five miles, there are 6 other public schools. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Shay Elementary School at 4th of 5; the average score across the group is 53.7%.

The campus sits in a town-center setting.

Looking at the recent track record. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Shay Elementary School has climbed 68%, going from 154 students in 2018 to 258 in 2025. The Hispanic share of enrollment expanded from 1% to 5% over that span.

Inside the community feed, the feed for Shay Elementary School typically covers sports schedules, lunch menu changes, and school spirit week. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.