1
Welcome to the Gilkey Elementary School community. What's one thing that would make Gilkey Elementary School even better?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
439
Elementary
DISTRICT 379 · STATE 369
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·PLAINWELL COMMUNITY SCHOOLS·NCES 262853006401
Gilkey Elementary School
707 S WOODHAMS ST, PLAINWELL, MI 49080 · (269) 685-2424 · Allegan County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY31-TOWNREGULAR SCHOOL439 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
18.3:1
24 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 16.8:1 · STATE 15.8:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
32%
142 students
DISTRICT 38% · STATE 55%
Community
4
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 | 83 | 19% |
| Grade 1 | 66 | 15% |
| Grade 2 | 71 | 16% |
| Grade 3 | 72 | 16% |
| Grade 4 | 72 | 16% |
| Grade 5 | 75 | 17% |
This year's kindergarten class (83) is 11% larger than its 5th grade class (75).
Student demographics
23%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 24% · 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
Gilkey Elementary School→Plainwell Middle School
Based on grade levels within Plainwell Community Schools. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
M-STEP 2024-25 . % Advanced + ProficientEnglish Language Arts
50.2%
MI avg 47.7%
Math
41.8%
MI avg 44.8%
What this means: On the M-STEP, Michigan's statewide test, about 50 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 42 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
40.6%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
52.0%
based on MI schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-11.3pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 41% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 52% 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 Gilkey Elementary School
Gilkey Elementary School's state test result (40.6% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gilkey Elementary School this school | 439 | 32.3% | 40.6% |
| Orchard Primary School ALMONT | 428 | 32.5% | 70.1% |
| Lakewood Elementary School LAKE ODESSA | 461 | 31.2% | 45.0% |
| Will L Lee School RICHMOND | 478 | 32.6% | 56.8% |
| Spring Mills Elementary School HIGHLAND | 424 | 30.2% | 46.6% |
| Chapman Elementary School ROCKWOOD | 434 | 32.9% | 47.8% |
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 Gilkey Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Michigan | In Allegan County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 40.6% | #700 of 1,085 | #15 of 20 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 41.8% | #624 of 1,072 | #14 of 20 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 50.2% | #480 of 1,139 | #11 of 20 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 439 | #484 of 1,630 | #3 of 26 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 18.3:1 | #1,191 of 1,424 | #20 of 21 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 22.5% | #1,025 of 1,424 | #16 of 21 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 32.3% | #1,188 of 1,563 | #20 of 23 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -0.7% | #956 of 979 | #16 of 16 |
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
439
+61 (+16%) vs 2020
+43% since 1990-91, when it was 308
Student : Teacher
18.3:1
was 15.8:1
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 | 439 | 24 | 18.3:1 | 32% (142) |
| 2023-24 | 399 | 25 | 16.0:1 | 35% (139) |
| 2022-23 | 393 | 25 | 15.7:1 | 35% (139) |
| 2020-21 | 378 | 24 | 15.8:1 | 29% (111) |
| 2017-18 | 442 | 25 | 17.7:1 | 33% (146) |
| 2015-16 | 446 | 25 | 17.8:1 | 33% (146) |
| 2010-11 | 384 | 20 | 19.2:1 | 27% (102) |
| 2000-01 | 440 | 23 | 19.1:1 | 17% (75) |
| 1990-91 | 308 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Gilkey Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 1% (442 to 439); teachers down 4% (25 to 24).
About Gilkey Elementary School
Among the schools in PLAINWELL, Michigan, is Gilkey Elementary School, a medium-sized elementary school. Students in pre-K through 5 attend the school, which enrolls 439 students.
Gilkey Elementary School is run by Plainwell Community Schools, whose 6 schools enroll 2,620 students.
The large majority of students at Gilkey Elementary School, 88%, are White. Other reported shares: 5% multiracial and 5% Hispanic. That is close to the 87% White share among all Allegan County residents. The chance that two students picked at random at Gilkey Elementary School belong to different racial or ethnic groups, known as the diversity index, is 23%.
Its 24 full-time-equivalent teachers give the school a ratio of 18.3:1. That ratio is over the 15.8:1 average for elementary schools in Michigan. Free or reduced-price lunch eligibility is 32%. That rate is below the 43% average among public schools in Allegan County.
Predicted from its free or reduced-price lunch share, Gilkey Elementary School would score about 52.0%. It scores 40.6%, 11.3 points below that figure.
Among Allegan County residents, median household income is about $83,283, 27% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 5% of people live in poverty. Federal data list 55 public schools in Allegan County, with a combined enrollment of about 17,174.
The next-closest public school is Plainwell Middle School, about 0.6 miles away. There are at least 8 more public schools inside five miles. Gilkey Elementary School's average proficiency of 40.6% compares with 40.1% for its nearest scored neighbors.
In the federal locale system, Gilkey Elementary School is coded Town: Fringe, for schools in a town close to an urbanized area.
Gilkey Elementary School had 378 students in 2020-21 and 439 in 2024-25, a 16% gain. Its ratio of students to teachers was 15.8:1 in 2020-21, and 18.3:1 in 2024-25.
Parents and students can post about school events, clubs, and volunteer needs at Gilkey Elementary School. Alumni can share how the school prepared them.
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 Plainwell Community Schools
- Plainwell High SchoolHigh · 828 students
- Plainwell Middle SchoolMiddle · 569 students
- Starr Elementary SchoolElementary · 410 students
- Cooper Elementary SchoolElementary · 288 students
- Renaissance High SchoolHigh · 86 students
Other schools in PLAINWELL
- Plainwell High SchoolHigh · 828 students
- Plainwell Middle SchoolMiddle · 569 students
- Starr Elementary SchoolElementary · 410 students
- Renaissance High SchoolHigh · 86 students
Nearby schools
- Plainwell Middle School0.6 mi · 569
- Starr Elementary School0.7 mi · 410
- Plainwell High School0.8 mi · 828
- Renaissance High School0.9 mi · 86
- Dix Street Elementary School2.8 mi · 357
- Washington Street Elementary School3.8 mi · 448
Frequently asked questions
About Gilkey Elementary SchoolHow large is Gilkey Elementary School?
Gilkey Elementary School enrolls approximately 439 students in grades PK-05.
Is Gilkey Elementary School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Gilkey Elementary School is an elementary school covering grades PK-05.
How many students per teacher at Gilkey Elementary School?
Approximately 18.3:1 students per teacher at Gilkey Elementary School.
How diverse is Gilkey Elementary School?
Gilkey Elementary School reports a student body of 88% White, 5% Hispanic, 1% Black, 0% Asian, 5% Two or more.
Who oversees Gilkey Elementary School?
Gilkey Elementary School is overseen by Plainwell Community Schools in Allegan County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.