Lake Center Elementary School

Lake Center Elementary School, an average-sized primary school in PORTAGE, Michigan, run under Portage Public Schools, teaches 494 students, covering grades pre-K through 5. Enrollment runs roughly 34% bigger than the state mean of about 369.

Portage Public Schools comprises 14 schools with combined enrollment of 8,479 students; Lake Center Elementary School is among them.

Demographically, Lake Center Elementary School reports that 76% of the student body identifies as White. Beyond that, the school lists 10% multiracial, 8% Hispanic, 4% Asian, 2% Black. That composition is broadly in line with Kalamazoo County as a whole.

On the resource side, The school employs 29 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 17.3:1. That figure is higher than the state norm's 15.8:1 average. An estimated 17% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy. By comparison, Kalamazoo County runs at roughly 45%, so the school's eligibility rate is below the surrounding baseline.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Lake Center Elementary School tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 58.7% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 55.6%.

In the broader community, Kalamazoo County reports that median household earnings sit near $72,532, 41% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 8%. Across Kalamazoo County's 93 public schools (combined enrollment of about 34,151 students), Lake Center Elementary School is one campus in the mix.

Nearest neighbor: Central Elementary School, around 2.0 miles off. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. On composite proficiency, Lake Center Elementary School comes 2nd of 8 in the immediate cluster, ahead of the nearby-schools average of 48.5%.

Lake Center Elementary School operates from an urban location.

Trend over the last 7 years. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Lake Center Elementary School has edged down 11%, going from 555 students in 2018 to 494 in 2025. White enrollment moved from 83% to 76% across the same window.

On the community side, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around sports schedules, lunch menu changes, and school spirit week. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.