Countryside Elementary School

Countryside Elementary School operates as a middle-of-the-pack elementary campus in BYRON CENTER, Michigan, one of the schools within Byron Center Public Schools. Current enrollment sits at 426 students spanning grades K through 4.

Byron Center Public Schools runs 7 schools in total, collectively educating 4,546 students. Countryside Elementary School is one of those campuses.

On demographics, Countryside Elementary School logs that 75% of the student body identifies as White. Beyond that, the school records 10% Hispanic, 7% multiracial, 6% Asian, 2% Black. That mix tracks the wider county fairly closely.

Looking at school resources, The school reports having 23 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 18.6:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 15.8:1, putting Countryside Elementary School higher than the state norm the norm. Around 22% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, often used as a Title I proxy. By comparison, Kent County runs at roughly 47%, so the school's eligibility rate is meaningfully below the surrounding baseline.

With demographic context factored in, Countryside Elementary School sits in the top 10% of Michigan schools after the BeatsExpectations adjustment. Predicted proficiency for the school's FRL share is roughly 56.7%; actual is 84.0%, +27.3 points clear of the demographic baseline.

Zooming out to the county, ACS estimates for Kent County put median household earnings sit near $82,631, 41% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 6%. Across Kent County's 239 public schools (combined enrollment of about 97,253 students), Countryside Elementary School is one campus in the mix.

Cross Creek Charter Academy is the nearest neighboring public school, about 1.1 miles from this campus. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. On composite proficiency, Countryside Elementary School comes 1st of 5 in the immediate cluster, ahead of the nearby-schools average of 50.8%.

Countryside Elementary School operates from an outer-ring location.

Trend over the last 7 years. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Countryside Elementary School has declined 19%, going from 524 students in 2018 to 426 in 2025. The White share of enrollment shrank from 88% to 75% over that span. Class-load math has pulled in: from 21.1:1 in 2018 to 18.6:1 in 2025.

In the discussion threads here, members of the Countryside Elementary School community share and discuss fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.