Brethren Middle School

Brethren Middle School, an one-room-style intermediate school in BRETHREN, Michigan, one of the schools within Kaleva Norman Dickson School District, teaches 85 students, covering grades 7 through 8. By comparison, Michigan's public schools average about 502 students each, so Brethren Middle School sits 83% leaner than that benchmark.

Kaleva Norman Dickson School District runs 3 schools in total, collectively educating 514 students. Brethren Middle School is one of those campuses.

Demographically, Brethren Middle School shows that 94% of students identify as White, making the school strongly White-majority. Beyond that, the school records 4% Native American.

On the resource side, On paper, Brethren Middle School has 6 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 13.8:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 17.5:1 average. An estimated 71% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy.

In the broader community, census data for Manistee County shows the typical household earns roughly $63,516 per year, roughly 25% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 8% of residents live below the federal poverty line. In all, Manistee County runs 14 public schools (combined enrollment of about 6,511 students), of which Brethren Middle School is one.

The closest other public school is KND Elementary, roughly 0.0 miles away. 2 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius.

Geographically, the school is in a low-density area.

Over the past 7-year window. Over the past 7-year window, the student count edged up 8%: 79 students in 2018 compared to 85 in 2025. White enrollment moved from 86% to 94% across the same window. The student-to-teacher ratio pulled in from 25.2:1 in 2018 to 13.8:1 today.

On this page, members of the Brethren Middle School community share and discuss fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.