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If you could change one rule at Handy Middle School, what would it be?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
598
Middle
DISTRICT 640 · STATE 502
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·BAY CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 260426004105
Handy Middle School
601 BLEND ST, BAY CITY, MI 48706 · (989) 684-1723 · Bay County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE13-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL598 STUDENTS
C-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 18% of Michigan public middle schools
- DTest 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 middle schools
Student : Teacher
13.7:1
44 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.7:1 · STATE 17.5:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
79%
471 students
DISTRICT 64% · STATE 55%
Community
5
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 | 184 | 31% |
| Grade 7 | 197 | 33% |
| Grade 8 | 217 | 36% |
Student demographics
51%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 41% · 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
Test scores
M-STEP 2024-25 . % Advanced + ProficientEnglish Language Arts
27.3%
MI avg 47.7%
Math
26.4%
MI avg 44.8%
What this means: On the M-STEP, Michigan's statewide test, about 27 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 26 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
26.6%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
31.4%
based on MI schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-4.8pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 27% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 31% 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 Handy Middle School
Handy Middle School's state test result (26.6% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 4 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Handy Middle School this school | 598 | 78.8% | 26.6% |
| Leota Fiedler Elementary School FLINT | 431 | 81.7% | 30.5% |
| Armstrong Middle School FLINT | 656 | 75.9% | 31.1% |
| Julian O Strong Middle School MELVINDALE | 651 | 90.2% | N/A |
| Holland Woods Middle School PORT HURON | 404 | 78.7% | 42.9% |
| Donald L Pavlik Middle School ALMA | 457 | 73.5% | 33.3% |
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 Handy Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Michigan |
|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 26.6% | #371 of 397 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 26.4% | #292 of 380 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 27.3% | #348 of 377 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 598 | #182 of 491 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 13.7:1 | #20 of 436 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 50.6% | #126 of 437 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 78.8% | #55 of 477 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -35.6% | #13 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
598
-270 (-31%) vs 2020
-61% since 1990-91, when it was 1,517
Student : Teacher
13.7:1
was 16.4:1
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 | 598 | 43.8 | 13.7:1 | 79% (471) |
| 2023-24 | 618 | 48.1 | 12.8:1 | 79% (487) |
| 2022-23 | 685 | 50.1 | 13.7:1 | 79% (544) |
| 2020-21 | 868 | 53 | 16.4:1 | 76% (658) |
| 2017-18 | 928 | 57.4 | 16.2:1 | 71% (661) |
| 2015-16 | 909 | 55 | 16.5:1 | 64% (581) |
| 2010-11 | 1,051 | 58 | 18.1:1 | 67% (701) |
| 2000-01 | 1,421 | 80 | 17.8:1 | 46% (658) |
| 1990-91 | 1,517 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Handy Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students down 36% (928 to 598); teachers down 24% (57.4 to 43.8).
About Handy Middle School
Handy Middle School is a medium-sized middle-grades school located in BAY CITY, Michigan. Enrollment is 598 students in 2024-25, and the school serves grades 6 through 8.
Bay City School District (13 schools, 6,030 students) runs Handy Middle School.
Handy Middle School is 67% White by enrollment. Other reported shares: 18% Hispanic, 10% multiracial, and 5% Black. That compares with about 91% White among all Bay County residents. The school's diversity index is 51%, meaning two students picked at random have a 51% chance of belonging to different racial or ethnic groups.
Handy Middle School employs 43.8 full-time-equivalent teachers. That gives a ratio of about 13.7:1. The school has fewer students per teacher than the 17.5:1 average for middle schools in Michigan. Handy Middle School's free or reduced-price lunch eligibility rate is 79%. Public schools in Bay County average 55%.
The allk12 Grade for Handy Middle School is C-. Compared with Michigan public middle schools, the school scored higher than 18% on a mix of test scores, poverty-adjusted results, and recent trend.
Predicted from its free or reduced-price lunch share, Handy Middle School would score about 31.4%. It scores 26.6%, 4.8 points below that figure.
Within Bay County, the median household income is $61,763, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 22%, and about 10% of people live in poverty. Besides Handy Middle School, Bay County has 33 other public schools.
Nearest public school: Christa McAuliffe Middle School, about 1.0 miles away. Within five miles are at least 8 other public schools. Compared with its nearest neighbors, Handy Middle School ranks 4th of 4 on average proficiency.
The NCES locale for Handy Middle School is City: Small, which covers schools inside a principal city with a population under 100,000.
Enrollment at Handy Middle School declined 31% between 2020-21 and 2024-25, from 868 to 598 students. Its ratio of students to teachers was 16.4:1 in 2020-21, and 13.7:1 in 2024-25.
Families, students, and staff can use this page to discuss enrollment questions, class placement, and PTA news at Handy Middle School. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.
Bay County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
103,008
Census ACS
Median income
$61,763
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
22%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
10%
Below federal line
Schools in county
34
12,525 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Bay City School District
- Bay City Western High SchoolHigh · 1,009 students
- Bay City Central High SchoolHigh · 921 students
- Western Middle SchoolMiddle · 681 students
- Auburn Elementary SchoolElementary · 474 students
- Kolb Elementary SchoolElementary · 451 students
- Hampton Elementary SchoolElementary · 399 students
Other schools in BAY CITY
- Bay City Central High SchoolHigh · 921 students
- John Glenn High SchoolHigh · 864 students
- Christa McAuliffe Middle SchoolMiddle · 608 students
- Kolb Elementary SchoolElementary · 451 students
- Hampton Elementary SchoolElementary · 399 students
- McAlearSawden Elem SchoolElementary · 378 students
Nearby schools
- Christa McAuliffe Middle School1.0 mi · 608
- Bangor Township Virtual School1.0 mi · 182
- Kolb Elementary School1.0 mi · 451
- John Glenn High School1.1 mi · 864
- State Street Academy1.1 mi · 286
- Bangor West Central School1.4 mi · 361
Frequently asked questions
About Handy Middle SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Handy Middle School?
Handy Middle School enrolls approximately 598 students in grades 06-08.
What age range does Handy Middle School serve?
Handy Middle School serves students from grade 06 through grade 08.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Handy Middle School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Handy Middle School is approximately 13.7:1 (44 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Handy Middle School?
At Handy Middle School, the student body is approximately 67% White, 18% Hispanic, 5% Black, 0% Asian, 10% Two or more.
Is Handy Middle School public or private?
Handy Middle School is a public K-12 school, overseen by Bay City School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.