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What's the most underrated thing about Clarke School that outsiders don't know?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
462
Elementary
DISTRICT 432 · STATE 369
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·ST. JOSEPH PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 263285006831
Clarke School
515 E GLENLORD RD, SAINT JOSEPH, MI 49085 · (269) 926-3600 · Berrien County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY23-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL462 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
21.4:1
22 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 20.3:1 · STATE 15.8:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
20%
93 students
DISTRICT 21% · STATE 55%
Community
5
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten | 92 | 20% |
| Grade 1 | 66 | 14% |
| Grade 2 | 73 | 16% |
| Grade 3 | 77 | 17% |
| Grade 4 | 77 | 17% |
| Grade 5 | 77 | 17% |
This year's kindergarten class (92) is 19% larger than its 5th grade class (77).
Student demographics
44%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 45% · 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
School pathway
Students here typically continue to
Based on grade levels within St. Joseph Public Schools. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
M-STEP 2024-25 . % Advanced + ProficientEnglish Language Arts
58.8%
MI avg 47.7%
Math
61.0%
MI avg 44.8%
What this means: On the M-STEP, Michigan's statewide test, about 59 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 61 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
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
57.7%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
57.4%
based on MI schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+0.3pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 58% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 57% typical for Michigan schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Michigan's top nor bottom 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 Clarke School
Clarke School's state test result (57.7% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clarke School this school | 462 | 20.1% | 57.7% |
| Brown Elementary School BYRON CENTER | 438 | 18.5% | 89.9% |
| Orchard View Elementary School GRAND RAPIDS | 439 | 22.1% | 63.5% |
| Frank E Bartlett School SOUTH LYON | 483 | 18.2% | 51.6% |
| Brown School SAINT JOSEPH | 410 | 22.9% | 59.2% |
| Oakley Park Elementary School COMMERCE TOWNSHIP | 392 | 19.9% | 61.2% |
Matched among Michigan elementary 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 Clarke School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Michigan | In Berrien County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 57.7% | #256 of 1,085 | #5 of 18 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 61.0% | #201 of 1,072 | #4 of 17 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 58.8% | #289 of 1,139 | #6 of 19 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 462 | #402 of 1,630 | #2 of 30 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 21.4:1 | #1,391 of 1,424 | #23 of 23 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 44.0% | #559 of 1,424 | #10 of 23 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 20.1% | #1,387 of 1,563 | #26 of 26 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +3.6% | #327 of 440 | #6 of 10 |
Ranked against other public elementary 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
462
+4 (+1%) vs 2020
+18% since 1990-91, when it was 392
Student : Teacher
21.4:1
was 25.4:1
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 | 462 | 21.6 | 21.4:1 | 20% (93) |
| 2023-24 | 465 | 21.4 | 21.7:1 | 24% (111) |
| 2022-23 | 483 | 22.2 | 21.8:1 | 24% (118) |
| 2020-21 | 458 | 18 | 25.4:1 | 26% (117) |
| 2017-18 | 446 | 18.5 | 24.2:1 | 29% (128) |
| 2015-16 | 452 | 20 | 22.6:1 | 24% (108) |
| 2010-11 | 442 | 20 | 22.1:1 | 14% (61) |
| 2000-01 | 372 | 18 | 20.7:1 | 5% (18) |
| 1990-91 | 392 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Clarke School.
Since 2017-18: students up 4% (446 to 462); teachers up 17% (18.5 to 21.6).
About Clarke School
Clarke School serves students in SAINT JOSEPH, Michigan, as a mid-sized elementary school. The school has 462 students in 2024-25 across kindergarten through 5. Elementary schools in Michigan average about 369 students, which makes this school 25% larger than average.
The St. Joseph Public Schools system has 5 schools and 2,918 students.
About 74% of the student body at Clarke School is White. Other groups include 9% Asian, 7% Hispanic, 6% multiracial, and 4% Black. Berrien County residents are about 74% White, a similar share. A diversity index of 44% means there is a 44% chance two randomly chosen students at Clarke School are from different groups.
Teacher count: 21.6 full-time equivalents. Student-to-teacher ratio: 21.4:1. The gap from the 15.8:1 average for elementary schools in Michigan is 5.5 students per teacher. Eligibility for free or reduced-price lunch, often used to gauge student poverty, is 20%. The gap from the 55% average for public schools in Berrien County is 35 points.
In Michigan, Clarke School is in the middle band of BeatsExpectations: 57.7% actual against a predicted 57.4%.
Berrien County is the school's county. There, median household income comes to about $65,425, 31% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 11% of people live in poverty. There are 75 public schools in the county, enrolling about 21,027, Clarke School among them.
Lighthouse Education Center is the nearest public school to Clarke School, about 0.9 miles away. Within five miles of Clarke School, there are at least 8 other public schools. Of 4 schools in the immediate area with test results, Clarke School ranks 2nd on average proficiency.
On the NCES locale scale, the school is Suburb: Small.
Clarke School had 458 students in 2020-21 and 462 in 2024-25, nearly the same. The student-to-teacher ratio went down from 25.4:1 to 21.4:1.
This page collects posts and questions about Clarke School, such as fundraisers, report cards, and school supplies. Members of the school community can share what they know.
Berrien County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
153,288
Census ACS
Median income
$65,425
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
31%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
11%
Below federal line
Schools in county
75
21,027 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in St. Joseph Public Schools
- St Joseph High SchoolHigh · 933 students
- Upton Middle SchoolMiddle · 690 students
- Lincoln SchoolElementary · 423 students
- Brown SchoolElementary · 410 students
Other schools in SAINT JOSEPH
- St Joseph High SchoolHigh · 933 students
- Upton Middle SchoolMiddle · 690 students
- Lincoln SchoolElementary · 423 students
- Brown SchoolElementary · 410 students
- Lighthouse Education CenterCombined · 128 students
Other Clarke schools
One other US public school is named Clarke. Clarke School is the largest of the 2.
- ClarkeSwampscott, MA · 206 students
Nearby schools
- Lighthouse Education Center0.9 mi · 128
- Upton Middle School1.5 mi · 690
- Hollywood Elementary School2.1 mi · 377
- River School2.5 mi · 70
- Fair Plain East Elementary2.5 mi · 150
- Fair Plain Middle School3.0 mi · 240
Frequently asked questions
About Clarke SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Clarke School?
Clarke School enrolls approximately 462 students in grades KG-05.
What grades does Clarke School serve?
Clarke School serves grades KG-05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Clarke School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Clarke School is approximately 21.4:1 (22 FTE teachers).
How diverse is Clarke School?
Clarke School reports a student body of 74% White, 7% Hispanic, 4% Black, 9% Asian, 6% Two or more.
Who oversees Clarke School?
Clarke School is overseen by St. Joseph Public Schools in Berrien County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.