Central Woodlands 56 School

Located at 400 ALTA DALE AVE SE, in ADA, Michigan, Central Woodlands 56 School is a medium-sized intermediate school that instructs 462 students (grades 5 through 6), run under Forest Hills Public Schools.

Forest Hills Public Schools runs 18 schools in total, collectively educating 8,797 students. Central Woodlands 56 School is one of those campuses.

For racial and ethnic makeup, Central Woodlands 56 School records that nearly all students (82%) are White. Beyond that, the school records 6% Asian, 5% multiracial, 4% Hispanic. By comparison, Kent County as a whole is about 73% White, so the school skews meaningfully more White than its surroundings.

Looking at school resources, The school lists 25 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 18.2:1. That tracks the state average closely. About 10% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment. Set against Kent County (around 47%), the school's rate is noticeably below typical.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), Central Woodlands 56 School performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 61.8%, the actual is 67.6%, a residual of +5.8 points.

Zooming out to the county, Kent County reports that median household earnings sit near $82,631, roughly 41% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 6% of residents live below the federal poverty line. In all, Kent County runs 239 public schools (combined enrollment of about 97,253 students), of which Central Woodlands 56 School is one.

Nearest neighbor: Central Middle School, around 0.6 miles off. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. Among the 7 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Central Woodlands 56 School ranks 5th on composite proficiency, beneath the local average of 71.1%.

The school occupies an outer-ring site.

Over the past 7-year window. Over the past 7-year window, the student count ticked down 12%: 526 students in 2018 compared to 462 in 2025. The White share of enrollment fell from 86% to 82% over that span. The student-to-teacher ratio pulled in from 19.6:1 in 2018 to 18.2:1 today.

In the discussion threads here, recent activity here tends to focus on open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.