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Parents: what's one thing you'd want the Central Middle School administration to hear?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
488
Middle
DISTRICT 436 · STATE 502
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·FOREST HILLS PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 261461005154
Central Middle School
5810 ADA DR SE, ADA, MI 49301 · (616) 493-8750 · Kent County
GRADES 07–08MIDDLE21-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL488 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
19.5:1
25 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 19.3:1 · STATE 17.5:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
12%
60 students
DISTRICT 14% · 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 | 237 | 49% |
| Grade 8 | 251 | 51% |
Student demographics
30%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 41% · 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
74.4%
MI avg 47.7%
Math
70.6%
MI avg 44.8%
What this means: On the M-STEP, Michigan's statewide test, about 74 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 71 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
77.2%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
60.8%
based on MI schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+16.3pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 77% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 61% 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 16 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 Central Middle School
Central Middle School's state test result (77.2% proficient) is higher than 5 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Central Middle School this school | 488 | 12.3% | 77.2% |
| Central Woodlands 56 School ADA | 462 | 10.2% | 67.6% |
| Eastern Middle School ADA | 528 | 13.3% | 65.6% |
| South Hills Middle School BLOOMFIELD HILLS | 555 | 6.7% | 72.1% |
| Anderson Middle School BERKLEY | 489 | 13.7% | 55.9% |
| Derby Middle School BIRMINGHAM | 631 | 8.6% | 73.7% |
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 Central Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Michigan | In Kent County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 77.2% | #4 of 397 | #2 of 24 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 70.6% | #14 of 380 | #4 of 26 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 74.4% | #4 of 377 | #2 of 24 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 488 | #251 of 491 | #21 of 39 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 19.5:1 | #380 of 436 | #30 of 33 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 29.7% | #249 of 437 | #29 of 33 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 12.3% | #454 of 477 | #33 of 36 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -19.3% | #96 of 339 | #5 of 22 |
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
488
-28 (-5%) vs 2020
-34% since 1990-91, when it was 741
Student : Teacher
19.5:1
was 19.9:1
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 | 488 | 25 | 19.5:1 | 12% (60) |
| 2023-24 | 510 | 25.8 | 19.8:1 | 13% (68) |
| 2022-23 | 526 | 24.7 | 21.3:1 | 12% (62) |
| 2020-21 | 516 | 26 | 19.9:1 | 13% (66) |
| 2017-18 | 605 | 29.1 | 20.8:1 | 10% (59) |
| 2015-16 | 598 | 31 | 19.3:1 | 8% (48) |
| 2010-11 | 641 | 35 | 18.3:1 | 7% (46) |
| 2000-01 | 679 | 46 | 14.8:1 | 2% (16) |
| 1990-91 | 741 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Central Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students down 19% (605 to 488); teachers down 14% (29.1 to 25).
About Central Middle School
Central Middle School is one of the public schools in ADA, Michigan. It is a mid-sized middle school. Total enrollment is 488 students, and the grades served are 7 through 8.
Central Middle School is one school in Forest Hills Public Schools, a system of 18 schools with 8,797 students.
White students account for 83% of the school's enrollment. Beyond that, enrollment is 6% Asian, 5% Hispanic, and 4% multiracial. The White share of the county population is lower, at 73%. On a 0 to 100 scale, the school's diversity index is 30, compared with 70 nationally.
Central Middle School has 25 full-time-equivalent teachers on staff and a student-to-teacher ratio of 19.5:1. The school's 19.5:1 compares with an average of 17.5:1 for middle schools in Michigan. The school has 12% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. The gap from the 47% average for public schools in Kent County is 35 points.
On a poverty-adjusted basis, Central Middle School is in the top 10% of Michigan schools: 77.2% actual against 60.8% predicted.
American Community Survey estimates for Kent County show that median household income comes to about $82,631, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 41% of adults, and the poverty rate is about 6%. The county's public schools total 239, with about 97,253 students.
About 0.3 miles separate Central Middle School from the closest public school, Central High School. A five-mile radius around the school includes at least 8 other public schools. Central Middle School ranks 2nd of 7 among nearby schools on average proficiency, with 77.2% against a local average of 69.5%.
Under the NCES locale system, Central Middle School is Suburb: Large.
By 2024-25, enrollment had dropped to 488, from 516 in 2020-21.
This page is a place to ask questions and share updates about open houses, carpools, and field trips at Central Middle School. Members of the school community can share what they know.
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 Forest Hills Public Schools
- Northern High SchoolHigh · 1,088 students
- Central High SchoolHigh · 999 students
- Eastern High SchoolHigh · 768 students
- Eastern Middle SchoolMiddle · 528 students
- Knapp Forest Elementary SchoolElementary · 520 students
- Northern Trails 56 SchoolMiddle · 520 students
Other schools in ADA
- Eastern High SchoolHigh · 768 students
- Eastern Middle SchoolMiddle · 528 students
- Central Woodlands 56 SchoolMiddle · 462 students
- Ada Vista Elementary SchoolElementary · 446 students
- Ada Elementary SchoolElementary · 293 students
- Goodwillie Environmental SchoolMiddle · 103 students
Other Central Middle schools
49 other US public schools in 25 states are named Central Middle. Central Middle School is the 28th largest of the 50.
- Central Middle SchoolPORT HURON, MI · 599 students
- Central Middle SchoolIRON MOUNTAIN, MI · 109 students
- CENTRAL MIDDLE SCHOOLEDEN PRAIRIE, MN · 1,860 students
- Central Middle SchoolReading, PA · 1,785 students
- Central MiddleEdgewater, MD · 1,204 students
Nearby schools
- Central High School0.3 mi · 999
- Central Woodlands 56 School0.6 mi · 462
- Thornapple Elementary School1.5 mi · 361
- Ada Elementary School1.5 mi · 293
- Ada Vista Elementary School1.6 mi · 446
- Meadow Brook Elementary School1.7 mi · 431
Frequently asked questions
About Central Middle SchoolHow many students attend Central Middle School?
Central Middle School enrolls approximately 488 students in grades 07-08.
Is Central Middle School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Central Middle School is a middle school covering grades 07-08.
How many students per teacher at Central Middle School?
Approximately 19.5:1 students per teacher at Central Middle School.
How diverse is Central Middle School?
Central Middle School reports a student body of 83% White, 5% Hispanic, 2% Black, 6% Asian, 4% Two or more.
Who oversees Central Middle School?
Central Middle School is overseen by Forest Hills Public Schools in Kent County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.