Northern Trails 56 School

Northern Trails 56 School, an average-sized intermediate school in GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan, operated by Forest Hills Public Schools, serves 520 students, covering grades 5 through 6.

Forest Hills Public Schools runs 18 schools in total, collectively educating 8,797 students. Northern Trails 56 School is one of those campuses.

On demographics, Northern Trails 56 School lists that White students make up the majority at 67%. Other groups include 12% Hispanic, 9% Asian, 7% multiracial, 5% Black.

On the income-and-resources front, The school lists 29 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 17.8:1. The state averages about 17.5:1, putting this campus right in line with peers. Around 18% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, often used as a Title I proxy. That share is below Kent County's rate of about 47%.

With demographic context factored in, Northern Trails 56 School performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 58.4%, the actual is 62.5%, a residual of +4.1 points.

Zooming out to the county, community-level numbers for Kent County indicate the typical household earns roughly $82,631 per year, 41% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 6%. In all, Kent County runs 239 public schools (combined enrollment of about 97,253 students), of which Northern Trails 56 School is one.

The closest other public school is Forest Hills Transition Center, roughly 0.0 miles away. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools.

The school occupies a suburban site.

Over the past 7-year window. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Northern Trails 56 School has ticked down 3%, going from 536 students in 2018 to 520 in 2025. The White share of enrollment fell from 71% to 67% over that span.

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