Enrollment
58
Middle
DISTRICT 195 · STATE 502
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·GRAND RAPIDS PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 261644000893
John Ball Park Zoo School
1300 FULTON ST W, GRAND RAPIDS, MI 49504 · (616) 819-3344 · Kent County
GRADES 06–06MIDDLE12-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL58 STUDENTS
A
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 93% of Michigan public middle schools
- ATest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- A+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
22.3:1
3 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 18.4:1 · STATE 17.5:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
43%
25 students
DISTRICT 71% · STATE 55%
Community
0
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 | 58 | 100% |
Student demographics
33%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 70% · 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
78.1%
MI avg 47.7%
Math
54.6%
MI avg 44.8%
What this means: On the M-STEP, Michigan's statewide test, about 78 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 55 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
OUTPERFORMING
Top 10% of MI schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
66.3%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
47.2%
based on MI schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+19.2pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 66% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 47% typical for Michigan schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations ranks schools against others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school can post high scores and still fall short of its prediction, or post lower scores and still beat it. This school clears its prediction by about 19 points, placing it in Michigan's top 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 John Ball Park Zoo School
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| John Ball Park Zoo School this school | 58 | 43.1% | 66.3% |
| Harbor Beach Middle School HARBOR BEACH | 100 | 41.0% | N/A |
| Webberville Middle School WEBBERVILLE | 107 | 37.4% | N/A |
| Merrill Middle School MERRILL | 97 | 52.6% | N/A |
| North Central Middle School Powers | 61 | 59.0% | N/A |
| Fulton Middle School MIDDLETON | 119 | 51.3% | 34.9% |
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 John Ball Park Zoo School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Michigan | In Kent County |
|---|---|---|---|
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 58 | #489 of 491 | #39 of 39 |
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
58
+3 (+5%) vs 2020
+5% since 2000-01, when it was 55
Student : Teacher
22.3:1
was 27.5:1
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 | 58 | 2.6 | 22.3:1 | 43% (25) |
| 2023-24 | 57 | 2.2 | 25.9:1 | 47% (27) |
| 2022-23 | 59 | 2.3 | 25.6:1 | 39% (23) |
| 2020-21 | 55 | 2 | 27.5:1 | 49% (27) |
| 2017-18 | 57 | 2.1 | 27.1:1 | 46% (26) |
| 2015-16 | 60 | 2 | 30.0:1 | 42% (25) |
| 2010-11 | 60 | 2 | 30.0:1 | 38% (23) |
| 2000-01 | 55 | N/A | N/A | 20% (11) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for John Ball Park Zoo School.
Since 2017-18: students up 2% (57 to 58); teachers up 24% (2.1 to 2.6).
About John Ball Park Zoo School
John Ball Park Zoo School is a very small middle-grades school in GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan, (ZIP code 49504). The school offers grade 6 and enrolls 58 students. On average, middle schools in Michigan enroll around 502, and this school is 88% below that mark.
Grand Rapids Public Schools, which runs John Ball Park Zoo School, has 50 schools and 13,903 students.
By race and ethnicity, John Ball Park Zoo School is 81% White. Next come 10% multiracial, 5% Hispanic, and 3% Black. The county population is about 73% White. On a 0 to 100 scale, the school's diversity index is 33, compared with 70 nationally.
Classroom staffing at John Ball Park Zoo School totals 2.6 full-time-equivalent teachers, and the student-to-teacher ratio is 22.3:1. The average for middle schools in Michigan is 17.5:1, so this school has more students per teacher. Free or reduced-price lunch eligibility at John Ball Park Zoo School is about 43%.
John Ball Park Zoo School earns an A on the allk12 Grade, which blends test scores, results against poverty-based expectations, and the three-year trend. It scored higher than 93% of Michigan public middle schools.
In Michigan, John Ball Park Zoo School is one of the top 10% of schools on BeatsExpectations, with an average proficiency rate across its state test results of 66.3% compared with a predicted 47.2%.
Looking at the county, Kent County, the median household earns about $82,631 a year, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 41%, and about 6% of people live in poverty. Counting John Ball Park Zoo School, Kent County has 239 public schools.
The closest school to John Ball Park Zoo School is Sibley School, located about 0.7 miles away. In all, at least 8 other public schools sit within five miles of John Ball Park Zoo School.
By NCES locale, the school is City: Mid-size, or inside a principal city with a population between 100,000 and 250,000.
Enrollment rose by 5% across 4 years, from 55 in 2020-21 to 58 in 2024-25. Staffing shifted too: the ratio moved from 27.5:1 to 22.3:1.
The allk12 page for John Ball Park Zoo School lets the school community talk about pickup and drop-off, after-school programs, and teacher feedback. Current and former families are welcome to add their experience.
Kent County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
663,150
Census ACS
Median income
$82,631
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
41%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
6%
Below federal line
Schools in county
239
97,253 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Grand Rapids Public Schools
- City High Middle SchoolHigh · 955 students
- Union High SchoolHigh · 881 students
- Harrison Park AcademyElementary · 708 students
- Southwest Elementary Academia BilingueElementary · 661 students
- Grand Rapids University Preparatory AcademyHigh · 494 students
- Burton Middle SchoolMiddle · 488 students
Other schools in GRAND RAPIDS
- East Kentwood High SchoolHigh · 2,068 students
- Northern High SchoolHigh · 1,088 students
- PrepNet Virtual AcademyCombined · 1,080 students
- Northview High SchoolHigh · 1,078 students
- Central High SchoolHigh · 999 students
- City High Middle SchoolHigh · 955 students
Nearby schools
- Sibley School0.7 mi · 308
- Westwood Middle School0.9 mi · 176
- Union High Transition0.9 mi · 50
- Union High School0.9 mi · 881
- Newcomers Community School0.9 mi · 157
- Grand Rapids Public Museum Middle1.3 mi · 175
Frequently asked questions
About John Ball Park Zoo SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at John Ball Park Zoo School?
John Ball Park Zoo School enrolls approximately 58 students in grades 06-06.
What grades does John Ball Park Zoo School serve?
John Ball Park Zoo School serves grades 06-06.
What is the student-teacher ratio at John Ball Park Zoo School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at John Ball Park Zoo School is approximately 22.3:1 (3 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at John Ball Park Zoo School?
At John Ball Park Zoo School, the student body is approximately 81% White, 5% Hispanic, 3% Black, 10% Two or more.
Is John Ball Park Zoo School public or private?
John Ball Park Zoo School is a public K-12 school, overseen by Grand Rapids Public Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.