Gerald R Ford Academic Center

Set in GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan, Gerald R Ford Academic Center is a low-enrollment elementary school, part of Grand Rapids Public Schools. It enrolls 213 students across grades pre-K through 8. By comparison, Michigan's public schools average about 369 students each, so Gerald R Ford Academic Center sits 42% leaner than that benchmark.

Grand Rapids Public Schools comprises 50 schools with combined enrollment of 13,903 students; Gerald R Ford Academic Center is among them.

Demographically, Gerald R Ford Academic Center logs that 51% of students identify as Black, with the remaining enrollment distributed across several groups. The remainder consists of 45% Hispanic, 3% multiracial. The wider county runs roughly 10% Black, putting the school's mix noticeably more Black than the area baseline.

On the income-and-resources front, Staff filings list 13 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 16.1:1 students per teacher. That tracks the state average closely. An estimated 85% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. That share is north of Kent County's rate of about 47%.

Around the school, census data for Kent County shows the typical household earns roughly $82,631 per year, 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), Gerald R Ford Academic Center is one campus in the mix.

Covenant High School Grand Rapids is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.5 miles from this campus. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius.

Gerald R Ford Academic Center operates from a metropolitan location.

Looking at the recent track record. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Gerald R Ford Academic Center has declined 25%, going from 284 students in 2018 to 213 in 2025. Over the same period, the Hispanic share expanded from 31% to 45%.

On allk12, posts here usually surface around pickup logistics, teacher feedback, and after-school programs. Members of the school community can share what they know.