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Teachers: what resource would make the biggest difference at Byron Center West Middle School this year?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
729
Middle
DISTRICT 717 · STATE 502
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·BYRON CENTER PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 260756004334
Byron Center West Middle School
8654 HOMERICH AVE SW, BYRON CENTER, MI 49315 · (616) 878-6500 · Kent County
GRADES 06–09MIDDLE41-RURALREGULAR SCHOOL729 STUDENTS
A+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 99% of Michigan public middle schools
- A+Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- A+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 middle schools
Student : Teacher
20.5:1
36 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 19.8:1 · STATE 17.5:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
23%
170 students
DISTRICT 23% · STATE 55%
Community
5
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other middle schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 7 | 380 | 52% |
| Grade 8 | 344 | 47% |
| Grade 9 | 5 | 1% |
Student demographics
39%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 39% · 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
Test scores
M-STEP 2024-25 . % Advanced + ProficientEnglish Language Arts
68.1%
MI avg 47.7%
Math
74.6%
MI avg 44.8%
What this means: On the M-STEP, Michigan's statewide test, about 68 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 75 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
OUTPERFORMING
Top 10% of MI schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
77.8%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
56.0%
based on MI schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+21.9pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 78% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 56% typical for Michigan schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations ranks schools against others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school can post high scores and still fall short of its prediction, or post lower scores and still beat it. This school clears its prediction by about 22 points, placing it in Michigan's top 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 Byron Center West Middle School
Byron Center West Middle School's state test result (77.8% proficient) is higher than 5 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Byron Center West Middle School this school | 729 | 23.3% | 77.8% |
| Robert L Nickels Intermediate School BYRON CENTER | 705 | 22.8% | 67.4% |
| Upton Middle School SAINT JOSEPH | 690 | 20.7% | 58.0% |
| Portage Central Middle School PORTAGE | 719 | 18.9% | 53.2% |
| Haslett Middle School HASLETT | 660 | 23.2% | 58.8% |
| Kenneth T Beagle Middle School GRAND LEDGE | 835 | 23.6% | 56.2% |
Matched among Michigan middle 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 Byron Center West Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Michigan | In Kent County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 77.8% | #2 of 397 | #1 of 24 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 74.6% | #6 of 380 | #2 of 26 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 68.1% | #24 of 377 | #7 of 24 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 729 | #85 of 491 | #6 of 39 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 20.5:1 | #408 of 436 | #32 of 33 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 38.6% | #191 of 437 | #21 of 33 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 23.3% | #394 of 477 | #23 of 36 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +18.3% | #26 of 101 | #4 of 11 |
Ranked against other public middle 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
729
+16 (+2%) vs 2020
+100% since 1990-91, when it was 364
Student : Teacher
20.5:1
was 23.0:1
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 | 729 | 35.6 | 20.5:1 | 23% (170) |
| 2023-24 | 694 | 33.4 | 20.8:1 | 25% (171) |
| 2022-23 | 673 | 30.1 | 22.4:1 | 23% (152) |
| 2020-21 | 713 | 31 | 23.0:1 | 24% (172) |
| 2017-18 | 616 | 28.6 | 21.5:1 | 27% (166) |
| 2015-16 | 558 | 27 | 20.7:1 | 19% (104) |
| 2010-11 | 481 | 24 | 20.0:1 | 31% (147) |
| 2000-01 | 405 | 24 | 16.9:1 | 14% (58) |
| 1990-91 | 364 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Byron Center West Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students up 18% (616 to 729); teachers up 24% (28.6 to 35.6).
About Byron Center West Middle School
Byron Center West Middle School is a medium-sized middle school based in BYRON CENTER, Michigan. Students in grades 6 through 9 attend, and enrollment is 729 students. The typical figure for middle schools in Michigan is about 502 students.
Byron Center West Middle School is one school in a 7-school district, Byron Center Public Schools, which enrolls 4,546 students.
Byron Center West Middle School is 77% White by enrollment. Smaller groups are 9% Hispanic, 6% multiracial, 6% Asian, and 2% Black. Byron Center West Middle School's diversity index is 39%, against a US figure of 70%.
With 35.6 full-time-equivalent teachers in 2024-25, the ratio at Byron Center West Middle School was 20.5:1. On average, middle schools in Michigan have 17.5:1, compared with 20.5:1 here. Byron Center West Middle School's free or reduced-price lunch eligibility rate is 23%. By comparison, the figure for public schools in Kent County is 47%.
Measured against Michigan public middle schools, Byron Center West Middle School receives an A+. The grade weighs proficiency most heavily, then how results compare with what the school's low-income share predicts, then the three-year change.
Compared with Michigan schools that have similar shares of low-income students, Byron Center West Middle School does better than predicted by 21.9 points. Its average proficiency rate on state tests is 77.8%; the prediction is 56.0%.
Kent County has these Census figures: the median household income is $82,631, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 41%, and about 6% of people live in poverty. Kent County is home to 239 public schools and about 97,253 public school students.
Robert L Nickels Intermediate School is located about 0.3 miles from Byron Center West Middle School. Around the school, at least 8 other public schools are within five miles. Among its closest neighbors with test data, Byron Center West Middle School is 3rd of 7 on proficiency.
NCES assigns Byron Center West Middle School the locale Rural: Fringe, meaning in rural territory close to an urban area.
Enrollment at Byron Center West Middle School was 713 in 2020-21 and 729 in 2024-25, a change of less than 3%. Students per teacher fell from 23.0 in 2020-21 to 20.5 in 2024-25.
Conversations here can range across enrollment questions, class placement, and PTA news. Reviews and ratings from people who know the school are welcome.
Kent County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
663,150
Census ACS
Median income
$82,631
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
41%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
6%
Below federal line
Schools in county
239
97,253 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Byron Center Public Schools
- Byron Center High SchoolHigh · 1,387 students
- Robert L Nickels Intermediate SchoolMiddle · 705 students
- Marshall Elementary SchoolElementary · 463 students
- Brown Elementary SchoolElementary · 438 students
- Countryside Elementary SchoolElementary · 426 students
- Heritage Elementary SchoolElementary · 398 students
Other schools in BYRON CENTER
- Byron Center High SchoolHigh · 1,387 students
- Cross Creek Charter AcademyElementary · 809 students
- Robert L Nickels Intermediate SchoolMiddle · 705 students
- Marshall Elementary SchoolElementary · 463 students
- Brown Elementary SchoolElementary · 438 students
- Countryside Elementary SchoolElementary · 426 students
Nearby schools
- Robert L Nickels Intermediate School0.3 mi · 705
- Heritage Elementary School1.4 mi · 398
- Brown Elementary School1.4 mi · 438
- Byron Center High School2.3 mi · 1,387
- Byron Center Charter School2.7 mi · 199
- Marshall Elementary School3.5 mi · 463
Frequently asked questions
About Byron Center West Middle SchoolHow many students attend Byron Center West Middle School?
Byron Center West Middle School enrolls approximately 729 students in grades 06-09.
Is Byron Center West Middle School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Byron Center West Middle School is a middle school covering grades 06-09.
How many teachers does Byron Center West Middle School have?
Byron Center West Middle School employs 36 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 20.5:1.
What is the student diversity at Byron Center West Middle School?
Student demographics at Byron Center West Middle School are roughly 77% White, 9% Hispanic, 2% Black, 6% Asian, 6% Two or more.
Who oversees Byron Center West Middle School?
Byron Center West Middle School is overseen by Byron Center Public Schools in Kent County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.