Enrollment
278
Elementary
DISTRICT 220 · STATE 369
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·ALLEGAN PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 260222003967
Dawson Elementary School
125 ELM ST, ALLEGAN, MI 49010 · (269) 673-6925 · Allegan County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY32-TOWNTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL278 STUDENTS
B
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 63% of Michigan public elementary schools
- B-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- B+Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Michigan public elementary schools
Student : Teacher
15.4:1
18 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.2:1 · STATE 15.8:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
63%
175 students
DISTRICT 67% · STATE 55%
Community
0
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 | 43 | 15% |
| Grade 1 | 46 | 17% |
| Grade 2 | 51 | 18% |
| Grade 3 | 51 | 18% |
| Grade 4 | 44 | 16% |
| Grade 5 | 43 | 15% |
This year's kindergarten class (43) is about the same size as its 5th grade class (43).
Student demographics
30%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 31% · 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
Dawson Elementary School→LE White Middle School
Based on grade levels within Allegan Public Schools. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
M-STEP 2024-25 . % Advanced + ProficientEnglish Language Arts
51.2%
MI avg 47.7%
Math
43.2%
MI avg 44.8%
What this means: On the M-STEP, Michigan's statewide test, about 51 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 43 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
46.2%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
38.4%
based on MI schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+7.8pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 46% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 38% 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 Dawson Elementary School
Dawson Elementary School's state test result (46.2% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dawson Elementary School this school | 278 | 62.9% | 46.2% |
| North Elementary School IRON MOUNTAIN | 263 | 63.5% | 55.5% |
| Schall Elementary School CARO | 295 | 60.7% | 34.6% |
| Southeastern Elementary School HASTINGS | 261 | 64.8% | 40.5% |
| Pennfield Dunlap Elementary BATTLE CREEK | 273 | 61.2% | 31.5% |
| West Ward Elementary School ALLEGAN | 247 | 64.0% | 41.1% |
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 Dawson Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Michigan | In Allegan County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 46.2% | #536 of 1,085 | #10 of 20 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 43.2% | #599 of 1,072 | #12 of 20 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 51.2% | #454 of 1,139 | #10 of 20 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 278 | #1,170 of 1,630 | #16 of 26 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 15.4:1 | #583 of 1,424 | #10 of 21 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 30.3% | #811 of 1,424 | #7 of 21 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 62.9% | #635 of 1,563 | #7 of 23 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +19.8% | #99 of 440 | #2 of 6 |
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
278
-6 (-2%) vs 2020
-23% since 1990-91, when it was 360
Student : Teacher
15.4:1
was 14.9:1
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 | 278 | 18 | 15.4:1 | 63% (175) |
| 2023-24 | 286 | 18 | 15.9:1 | 60% (172) |
| 2022-23 | 297 | 18.7 | 15.9:1 | 62% (185) |
| 2020-21 | 284 | 19 | 14.9:1 | 43% (122) |
| 2017-18 | 232 | 17.3 | 13.4:1 | 65% (151) |
| 2015-16 | 238 | 16 | 14.9:1 | 63% (149) |
| 2010-11 | 322 | 18 | 17.9:1 | 55% (176) |
| 2000-01 | 323 | 22 | 14.7:1 | 43% (139) |
| 1990-91 | 360 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Dawson Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students up 20% (232 to 278); teachers up 4% (17.3 to 18).
About Dawson Elementary School
ALLEGAN, Michigan, is home to Dawson Elementary School, a small elementary school. The school runs kindergarten through 5 and enrolls 278 students. Elementary schools in Michigan average about 369 students, which makes this school 25% below average.
Dawson Elementary School belongs to Allegan Public Schools, a district of 8 schools and 2,035 students.
A large majority of enrollment at Dawson Elementary School is White, at 83%. Beyond that, enrollment is 8% multiracial and 7% Hispanic. On the diversity index, which measures the chance that two random students are from different groups, Dawson Elementary School scores 30%.
Classroom staffing at Dawson Elementary School totals 18 full-time-equivalent teachers, and the student-to-teacher ratio is 15.4:1. The average for elementary schools in Michigan is about 15.8:1. Free or reduced-price lunch eligibility at Dawson Elementary School is about 63%. It compares with 43% for public schools in Allegan County.
On the allk12 Grade, Dawson Elementary School lands at B, ahead of 63% of Michigan public elementary schools.
On BeatsExpectations, Dawson Elementary School is 7.8 points above its prediction, a result in the middle 80% of Michigan schools.
For the population of Allegan County, the median household earns about $83,283 a year, about 27% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and roughly 5% of residents are in poverty. Across Allegan County, 55 public schools serve about 17,174 students.
Dawson Elementary School is about 0.5 miles from Hillside Learning Center, its nearest public school. Around the school, at least 8 other public schools are within five miles.
Dawson Elementary School falls in the Town: Distant locale category, used for schools in a town some distance from an urbanized area.
There was little change in enrollment from 2020-21 (284) to 2024-25 (278).
People who know Dawson Elementary School can post here about homework, tutoring, and testing dates. Teachers and staff are welcome to share updates too.
Allegan County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
121,456
Census ACS
Median income
$83,283
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
27%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
5%
Below federal line
Schools in county
55
17,174 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Allegan Public Schools
- Allegan High SchoolHigh · 543 students
- LE White Middle SchoolMiddle · 427 students
- Pine Trails Elementary SchoolElementary · 326 students
- West Ward Elementary SchoolElementary · 247 students
- Allegan Alternative High SchoolHigh · 112 students
- Allegan Online K12Combined · 73 students
Other schools in ALLEGAN
- Allegan High SchoolHigh · 543 students
- LE White Middle SchoolMiddle · 427 students
- Pine Trails Elementary SchoolElementary · 326 students
- West Ward Elementary SchoolElementary · 247 students
- Allegan Alternative High SchoolHigh · 112 students
- Hillside Learning CenterCombined · 92 students
Other Dawson Elementary schools
4 other US public schools in 4 states are named Dawson Elementary. Dawson Elementary School is the 3rd largest of the 5.
- Dawson Elementary SchoolCORPUS CHRISTI, TX · 548 students
- Dawson Elementary SchoolColumbus, GA · 311 students
- Dawson Elementary SchoolAUSTIN, TX · 196 students
- DAWSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOLJACKSON, MS · 194 students
Nearby schools
- Hillside Learning Center0.5 mi · 92
- Allegan High School0.6 mi · 543
- LE White Middle School0.6 mi · 427
- West Ward Elementary School0.7 mi · 247
- North Ward Elementary School0.8 mi · 29
- Allegan Alternative High School1.3 mi · 112
Frequently asked questions
About Dawson Elementary SchoolHow many students attend Dawson Elementary School?
Dawson Elementary School enrolls approximately 278 students in grades KG-05.
What age range does Dawson Elementary School serve?
Dawson Elementary School serves students from grade KG through grade 05.
How many teachers does Dawson Elementary School have?
Dawson Elementary School employs 18 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 15.4:1.
What is the student diversity at Dawson Elementary School?
Student demographics at Dawson Elementary School are roughly 83% White, 7% Hispanic, 1% Black, 0% Asian, 8% Two or more.
What district is Dawson Elementary School in?
Dawson Elementary School is part of Allegan Public Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.