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What advice would you give to incoming students at Northern Hills Middle School?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
515
Middle
DISTRICT 436 · STATE 502
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·FOREST HILLS PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 261461005160
Northern Hills Middle School
3775 LEONARD ST NE, GRAND RAPIDS, MI 49525 · (616) 493-8650 · Kent County
GRADES 07–08MIDDLE21-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL515 STUDENTS
A+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 96% of Michigan public middle schools
- A+Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- ABeats 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
18.0:1
29 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 19.3:1 · STATE 17.5:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
15%
79 students
DISTRICT 14% · 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 7 | 258 | 50% |
| Grade 8 | 257 | 50% |
Student demographics
52%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
66.9%
MI avg 47.7%
Math
65.4%
MI avg 44.8%
What this means: On the M-STEP, Michigan's statewide test, about 67 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 65 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
69.8%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
59.5%
based on MI schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+10.3pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 70% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 59% 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 Northern Hills Middle School
Northern Hills Middle School's state test result (69.8% proficient) is higher than 5 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Hills Middle School this school | 515 | 15.3% | 69.8% |
| Northern Trails 56 School GRAND RAPIDS | 520 | 17.7% | 62.5% |
| Portage West Middle School PORTAGE | 717 | 17.4% | 57.3% |
| Scripps Middle School LAKE ORION | 446 | 21.1% | 59.7% |
| North Hills Middle School Bloomfield Hills | 593 | 13.5% | 69.4% |
| Eastern Middle School ADA | 528 | 13.3% | 65.6% |
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 Northern Hills Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Michigan | In Kent County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 69.8% | #17 of 397 | #6 of 24 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 65.4% | #26 of 380 | #8 of 26 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 66.9% | #29 of 377 | #9 of 24 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 515 | #234 of 491 | #19 of 39 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 18.0:1 | #269 of 436 | #17 of 33 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 52.3% | #110 of 437 | #13 of 33 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 15.3% | #443 of 477 | #31 of 36 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -12.9% | #172 of 339 | #7 of 22 |
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
515
-24 (-4%) vs 2020
-1% since 1990-91, when it was 521
Student : Teacher
18.0:1
was 20.7:1
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 | 515 | 28.6 | 18.0:1 | 15% (79) |
| 2023-24 | 534 | 28.3 | 18.9:1 | 18% (96) |
| 2022-23 | 546 | 30 | 18.2:1 | 17% (93) |
| 2020-21 | 539 | 26 | 20.7:1 | 17% (93) |
| 2017-18 | 591 | 27.6 | 21.4:1 | 10% (61) |
| 2015-16 | 586 | 31 | 18.9:1 | 12% (69) |
| 2010-11 | 543 | 26 | 20.9:1 | 12% (67) |
| 2000-01 | 631 | 43 | 14.7:1 | 6% (37) |
| 1990-91 | 521 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Northern Hills Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students down 13% (591 to 515); teachers up 4% (27.6 to 28.6).
About Northern Hills Middle School
The public middle school Northern Hills Middle School is located in GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan. In all, 515 students attend the school in grades 7 through 8.
District-wide, Forest Hills Public Schools has 18 schools and 8,797 students.
More than half of enrollment at Northern Hills Middle School is White: 67%. Enrollment also includes 10% Hispanic, 10% Asian, 7% multiracial, and 6% Black. The diversity index for Northern Hills Middle School is 52%. For US public schools as a whole it is 70%.
Northern Hills Middle School lists 28.6 full-time-equivalent teachers; that is about 18.0 students per teacher. The ratio is within a point of the 17.5:1 average for middle schools in Michigan. Free or reduced-price lunch covers 15% of the student body. That is 32 points below the 47% average for public schools in Kent County.
On the allk12 Grade, Northern Hills Middle School lands at A+, ahead of 96% of Michigan public middle schools.
Northern Hills Middle School scores 69.8% on state tests, averaged across results. The predicted figure, based on its student poverty level, is 59.5%.
Census data for Kent County show the median household earns about $82,631 a year, roughly 41% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 6%. Public schools in Kent County number 239, with about 97,253 students.
Northern Trails 56 School, about 0.3 miles away, is the closest public school. Counting only straight-line distance, at least 8 other public schools are within five miles. Among the 4 closest schools with test data, this one included, Northern Hills Middle School ranks 2nd on average proficiency.
Locale: Suburb: Large. In NCES terms, the school is in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
In 2020-21, Northern Hills Middle School enrolled 539 students. By 2024-25, that number had fallen to 515. Federal data show the ratio falling from 20.7:1 to 18.0:1.
You can use this page to share news and ask questions about fundraisers, report cards, and school supplies. 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 Forest Hills Public Schools
- Northern High SchoolHigh · 1,088 students
- Central High SchoolHigh · 999 students
- Eastern High SchoolHigh · 768 students
- Eastern Middle SchoolMiddle · 528 students
- Knapp Forest Elementary SchoolElementary · 520 students
- Northern Trails 56 SchoolMiddle · 520 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
- Northern Trails 56 School0.3 mi · 520
- Forest Hills Transition Center0.3 mi · 8
- Northern High School0.3 mi · 1,088
- Kent Education CenterBeltline1.0 mi · 43
- Knapp Charter Academy1.2 mi · 398
- Lincoln School1.3 mi · 99
Frequently asked questions
About Northern Hills Middle SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Northern Hills Middle School?
Northern Hills Middle School enrolls approximately 515 students in grades 07-08.
What age range does Northern Hills Middle School serve?
Northern Hills Middle School serves students from grade 07 through grade 08.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Northern Hills Middle School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Northern Hills Middle School is approximately 18.0:1 (29 FTE teachers).
How diverse is Northern Hills Middle School?
Northern Hills Middle School reports a student body of 67% White, 10% Hispanic, 6% Black, 10% Asian, 7% Two or more.
What district is Northern Hills Middle School in?
Northern Hills Middle School is part of Forest Hills Public Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.