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Honest take: what's the hardest part about being a student at Ionia Middle School?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
629
Middle
DISTRICT 332 · STATE 502
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·IONIA PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 261925005605
Ionia Middle School
438 UNION ST, IONIA, MI 48846 · (616) 527-0040 · Ionia County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE32-TOWNTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL629 STUDENTS
C+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 41% of Michigan public middle schools
- CTest 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
17.8:1
35 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 19.9:1 · STATE 17.5:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
58%
362 students
DISTRICT 61% · 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 | 217 | 34% |
| Grade 7 | 199 | 32% |
| Grade 8 | 213 | 34% |
Student demographics
29%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
Ionia Middle School→Ionia High School
Feeds from
Based on grade levels within Ionia Public Schools. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
M-STEP 2024-25 . % Advanced + ProficientEnglish Language Arts
32.1%
MI avg 47.7%
Math
21.1%
MI avg 44.8%
What this means: On the M-STEP, Michigan's statewide test, about 32 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 21 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
37.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
40.8%
based on MI schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-3.7pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 37% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 41% 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 Ionia Middle School
Ionia Middle School's state test result (37.1% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ionia Middle School this school | 629 | 57.6% | 37.1% |
| Legg Middle School COLDWATER | 616 | 60.9% | 40.6% |
| Charlotte Upper Elementary School CHARLOTTE | 527 | 53.3% | 33.2% |
| Chesaning Middle School CHESANING | 584 | 56.7% | 46.8% |
| Hahn Intermediate School DAVISON | 812 | 54.7% | 40.1% |
| Gaylord Intermediate School GAYLORD | 632 | 60.0% | 39.0% |
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 Ionia Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Michigan |
|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 37.1% | #266 of 397 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 21.1% | #343 of 380 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 32.1% | #318 of 377 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 629 | #151 of 491 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 17.8:1 | #249 of 436 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 29.3% | #253 of 437 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 57.6% | #161 of 477 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -11.0% | #199 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
629
-42 (-6%) vs 2020
-36% since 1990-91, when it was 976
Student : Teacher
17.8:1
was 17.7:1
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 | 629 | 35.3 | 17.8:1 | 58% (362) |
| 2023-24 | 613 | 40 | 15.3:1 | 62% (379) |
| 2022-23 | 664 | 40.9 | 16.2:1 | 61% (405) |
| 2020-21 | 671 | 38 | 17.7:1 | 53% (354) |
| 2017-18 | 707 | 39.8 | 17.8:1 | 54% (385) |
| 2015-16 | 712 | 40 | 17.8:1 | 56% (396) |
| 2010-11 | 682 | 37 | 18.4:1 | 57% (390) |
| 2000-01 | 786 | 48 | 16.4:1 | 37% (287) |
| 1990-91 | 976 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Ionia Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students down 11% (707 to 629); teachers down 11% (39.8 to 35.3).
About Ionia Middle School
Ionia Middle School is a mid-sized middle school for students in IONIA, Michigan. Its enrollment is 629 students, spread over grades 6 through 8. That compares with an average of about 502 students for middle schools in Michigan.
Within Ionia Public Schools, Ionia Middle School is one of 8 schools. The district enrolls 2,659 students.
White students are 83% of those enrolled at Ionia Middle School. Next come 12% Hispanic and 4% multiracial. That is in line with Ionia County, where about 87% of residents are White. A diversity index of 29% means there is a 29% chance two randomly chosen students at Ionia Middle School are from different groups.
Staffing at Ionia Middle School comes to 35.3 full-time-equivalent teachers, or 17.8:1. That is in line with the 17.5:1 average for middle schools in Michigan. Ionia Middle School counts 58% of students as eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.
Ionia Middle School holds a C+ allk12 Grade, placing it above 41% of Michigan public middle schools.
The school's average proficiency rate across its state test results is 37.1%. For its free or reduced-price lunch share, the predicted value is 40.8%.
In Ionia County, where the school is located, median household income comes to about $75,611, about 19% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and roughly 7% of residents are in poverty. There are 30 public schools in the county, enrolling about 10,506, Ionia Middle School among them.
Jefferson School is about 0.5 miles away, making it the nearest public school. There are at least 8 more public schools inside five miles.
Under the NCES locale system, Ionia Middle School is Town: Distant.
In 2024-25, the school enrolled 629, down from 671 in 2020-21.
Ionia Middle School has a community page on allk12 for topics such as athletics, class schedules, and weather closures. Teachers and staff are welcome to share updates too.
Ionia County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
66,574
Census ACS
Median income
$75,611
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
19%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
30
10,506 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Ionia Public Schools
- Ionia High SchoolHigh · 774 students
- AA Rather SchoolElementary · 308 students
- Jefferson SchoolElementary · 272 students
- RB Boyce Elementary SchoolElementary · 254 students
- Twin Rivers Elementary SchoolElementary · 183 students
- Emerson SchoolElementary · 166 students
Other schools in IONIA
- Ionia High SchoolHigh · 774 students
- AA Rather SchoolElementary · 308 students
- Jefferson SchoolElementary · 272 students
- RB Boyce Elementary SchoolElementary · 254 students
- Emerson SchoolElementary · 166 students
- Freedom Acres SchoolCombined · 107 students
Nearby schools
- Jefferson School0.5 mi · 272
- Emerson School0.6 mi · 166
- Ionia Maximum Correctional Facility1.9 mi · 3
- Handlon Correctional Facility2.1 mi · 2
- Bellamy Creek Correctional Facility2.3 mi · 9
- North LeValley Elem School2.3 mi · 10
Frequently asked questions
About Ionia Middle SchoolHow many students attend Ionia Middle School?
Ionia Middle School enrolls approximately 629 students in grades 06-08.
What age range does Ionia Middle School serve?
Ionia Middle School serves students from grade 06 through grade 08.
How many students per teacher at Ionia Middle School?
Approximately 17.8:1 students per teacher at Ionia Middle School.
How diverse is Ionia Middle School?
Ionia Middle School reports a student body of 83% White, 12% Hispanic, 0% Black, 0% Asian, 4% Two or more.
Who oversees Ionia Middle School?
Ionia Middle School is overseen by Ionia Public Schools in Ionia County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.