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If you had an hour of school board time for Dowagiac Middle School, what would you bring up?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
393
Middle
DISTRICT 259 · STATE 502
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·DOWAGIAC UNION SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 261215004918
Dowagiac Middle School
57072 RIVERSIDE DR, DOWAGIAC, MI 49047 · (269) 782-4440 · Cass County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE31-TOWNTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL393 STUDENTS
C+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 40% of Michigan public middle schools
- C-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- BBeats 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 middle schools
Student : Teacher
18.6:1
21 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 16.6:1 · STATE 17.5:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
71%
278 students
DISTRICT 71% · STATE 55%
Community
1
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other middle schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 138 | 35% |
| Grade 7 | 131 | 33% |
| Grade 8 | 124 | 32% |
Student demographics
61%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 58% · 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
Dowagiac Middle School→Union High School
Feeds from
Based on grade levels within Dowagiac Union School District. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
M-STEP 2024-25 . % Advanced + ProficientEnglish Language Arts
33.5%
MI avg 47.7%
Math
23.9%
MI avg 44.8%
What this means: On the M-STEP, Michigan's statewide test, about 34 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 24 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
34.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
35.0%
based on MI schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-0.8pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 34% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 35% 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 Dowagiac Middle School
Dowagiac Middle School's state test result (34.1% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dowagiac Middle School this school | 393 | 70.7% | 34.1% |
| Watervliet Middle School WATERVLIET | 309 | 64.7% | 38.5% |
| Grant Middle School GRANT | 445 | 62.9% | 36.8% |
| Coloma Junior High School COLOMA | 228 | 76.8% | 24.7% |
| Handy Middle School BAY CITY | 598 | 78.8% | 26.6% |
| Baseline Middle School SOUTH HAVEN | 377 | 59.4% | 31.9% |
Matched among Michigan middle 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 Dowagiac Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Michigan |
|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 34.1% | #305 of 397 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 23.9% | #323 of 380 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 33.5% | #295 of 377 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 393 | #315 of 491 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 18.6:1 | #312 of 436 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 61.4% | #65 of 437 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 70.7% | #89 of 477 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -24.3% | #46 of 339 |
Ranked against other public middle 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
393
-112 (-22%) vs 2020
-14% since 1990-91, when it was 459
Student : Teacher
18.6:1
was 22.0:1
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 | 393 | 21.2 | 18.6:1 | 71% (278) |
| 2023-24 | 379 | 20.9 | 18.2:1 | 76% (287) |
| 2022-23 | 408 | 23.4 | 17.5:1 | 72% (293) |
| 2020-21 | 505 | 23 | 22.0:1 | 88% (442) |
| 2017-18 | 519 | 25.7 | 20.2:1 | 75% (387) |
| 2015-16 | 485 | 25 | 19.4:1 | 78% (377) |
| 2010-11 | 538 | 31 | 17.4:1 | 70% (375) |
| 2000-01 | 446 | 27 | 16.5:1 | 39% (172) |
| 1990-91 | 459 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Dowagiac Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students down 24% (519 to 393); teachers down 17% (25.7 to 21.2).
About Dowagiac Middle School
As a small middle school, Dowagiac Middle School serves students in DOWAGIAC, Michigan. The school teaches grades 6 through 8 and enrolls 393 students. That is 22% below the average of about 502 students for middle schools in Michigan.
Enrollment across the 7 schools in Dowagiac Union School District totals 1,815 students.
At Dowagiac Middle School, 56% of students are White. Other students are 21% Hispanic, 13% multiracial, 7% Black, and 2% Native American. That is lower than the 85% White share among all Cass County residents. The diversity index for Dowagiac Middle School is 61%. For US public schools as a whole it is 70%.
Dowagiac Middle School has a student-to-teacher ratio of 18.6:1, with 21.2 full-time-equivalent teachers. Statewide, middle schools in Michigan average 17.5:1. The school has 71% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. For comparison, public schools in Cass County average 54%.
Dowagiac Middle School holds a C+ allk12 Grade, placing it above 40% of Michigan public middle schools.
BeatsExpectations compares each school's average proficiency rate across its state test results with a prediction based on free or reduced-price lunch eligibility. For Dowagiac Middle School, the prediction is 35.0% and the result is 34.1%.
In Cass County, median household income comes to about $70,443, roughly 22% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 9%. The county's public schools total 23, with about 6,258 students.
Justus Gage Elementary School, about 1.4 miles away, is the closest public school. Other public schools within five miles number 7. Dowagiac Middle School is 3rd of 5 nearby schools by average proficiency rate.
NCES describes the area around Dowagiac Middle School as Town: Fringe, meaning in a town close to an urbanized area.
The school's enrollment decreased 22% from 2020-21 to 2024-25. Students per teacher dropped from 22.0 in 2020-21 to 18.6 in 2024-25.
This page is set up for the Dowagiac Middle School community to discuss open houses, carpools, and field trips. Members of the school community can share what they know.
Cass County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
51,520
Census ACS
Median income
$70,443
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
22%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
9%
Below federal line
Schools in county
23
6,258 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Dowagiac Union School District
- Union High SchoolHigh · 507 students
- Justus Gage Elementary SchoolElementary · 262 students
- Patrick Hamilton ElementaryElementary · 224 students
- Kincheloe Elementary SchoolElementary · 214 students
- Sister Lakes Elementary SchoolElementary · 166 students
- Pathfinders Alternative EdHigh · 49 students
Other schools in DOWAGIAC
- Union High SchoolHigh · 507 students
- Justus Gage Elementary SchoolElementary · 262 students
- Patrick Hamilton ElementaryElementary · 224 students
- Kincheloe Elementary SchoolElementary · 214 students
- Pathfinders Alternative EdHigh · 49 students
- North Pointe CenterCombined · 44 students
Nearby schools
- Justus Gage Elementary School1.4 mi · 262
- Patrick Hamilton Elementary1.6 mi · 224
- North Pointe Center1.7 mi · 44
- Union High School1.8 mi · 507
- Pathfinders Alternative Ed1.8 mi · 49
- Kincheloe Elementary School4.3 mi · 214
Frequently asked questions
About Dowagiac Middle SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Dowagiac Middle School?
Dowagiac Middle School enrolls approximately 393 students in grades 06-08.
Is Dowagiac Middle School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Dowagiac Middle School is a middle school covering grades 06-08.
How many students per teacher at Dowagiac Middle School?
Approximately 18.6:1 students per teacher at Dowagiac Middle School.
How diverse is Dowagiac Middle School?
Dowagiac Middle School reports a student body of 56% White, 21% Hispanic, 7% Black, 13% Two or more.
Who oversees Dowagiac Middle School?
Dowagiac Middle School is overseen by Dowagiac Union School District in Cass County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.