Cooper Elementary School

As a cozy primary school in KALAMAZOO, Michigan, Cooper Elementary School caters to 288 students from grades pre-K through 5, part of Plainwell Community Schools. Enrollment runs roughly 22% smaller than the state mean of about 369.

Across the 6 schools in Plainwell Community Schools (2,620 students total), Cooper Elementary School accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

In terms of who attends, Cooper Elementary School lists that 91% of students identify as White, making the school strongly White-majority. Other groups include 3% Hispanic, 2% multiracial, 2% Black. The wider county runs roughly 76% White, putting the school's mix meaningfully more White than the area baseline.

On the income-and-resources front, Cooper Elementary School lists 17 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 16.9:1. The state averages around 15.8:1, so this campus is higher than the state norm typical. Roughly 23% of students at Cooper Elementary School qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy. By comparison, Kalamazoo County runs at roughly 45%, so the school's eligibility rate is meaningfully below the surrounding baseline.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Cooper Elementary School sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 56.1%; this one delivers 44.8%.

Across the wider county, the surrounding county (Kalamazoo County) records that median household earnings sit near $72,532, 41% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 8%. Cooper Elementary School is one of 93 public schools in Kalamazoo County (combined enrollment of about 34,151 students).

The closest other public school is Parchment Northwood Elem School, roughly 3.4 miles away. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Cooper Elementary School. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Cooper Elementary School at 4th of 7; the average score across the group is 47.5%.

Cooper Elementary School operates from an outlying location.

Looking at the recent track record. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Cooper Elementary School has changed only slightly, going from 283 students in 2018 to 288 in 2025. The student-to-teacher ratio pulled in from 18.7:1 in 2018 to 16.9:1 today.

In the discussion threads here, recent activity here tends to focus on fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.