Middle School at Parkside

Located at 2400 4TH ST, in JACKSON, Michigan, Middle School at Parkside is a moderately sized middle school that hosts 750 students (grades 6 through 8), run under Jackson Public Schools. That puts it 49% bigger than the typical public school in Michigan, which averages around 502 students.

Jackson Public Schools comprises 12 schools with combined enrollment of 4,310 students; Middle School at Parkside is among them.

On demographics, Middle School at Parkside records that 39% of students identify as White, with the remaining enrollment distributed across several groups. The remainder breaks down as 32% Black, 18% multiracial, 9% Hispanic. That is meaningfully less White than the county at large, where the share is closer to 83%.

In terms of school funding signals, On paper, Middle School at Parkside has 51 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 14.8:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 17.5:1, putting Middle School at Parkside tighter than the state norm the norm. Roughly 80% of students at Middle School at Parkside qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. Set against Jackson County (around 53%), the school's rate is somewhat above typical.

After controlling for student poverty, Middle School at Parkside performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 30.9%, the actual is 25.1%, a residual of -5.8 points.

In the area at large, the surrounding county (Jackson County) shows that median household earnings sit near $66,073, 23% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 8%. Across Jackson County's 68 public schools (combined enrollment of about 21,681 students), Middle School at Parkside is one campus in the mix.

The closest other public school is Fourth Street Learning Center, roughly 0.0 miles away. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Middle School at Parkside. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Middle School at Parkside at 3rd of 4; the average score across the group is 36.7%.

Geographically, the school is in a downtown area.

Five-year trend. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Middle School at Parkside has ticked down 24%, going from 982 students in 2018 to 750 in 2025. The White share of enrollment decreased from 45% to 39% over that span. Class-load math has narrowed: from 17.7:1 in 2018 to 14.8:1 in 2025.

On allk12, recent activity here tends to focus on sports schedules, lunch menu changes, and school spirit week. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.