Enrollment
271
Combined
STATE 281
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·ONTONAGON AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 262655006301
Ontonagon Area School
701 PARKER AVE, ONTONAGON, MI 49953 · (906) 813-0614 · Ontonagon County
GRADES KG–12COMBINED43-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL271 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
16.6:1
16 FTE teachers
STATE 17.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
59%
161 students
STATE 55%
Community
0
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other combined schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade
Student demographics
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. 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
63.2%
MI avg 47.7%
What this means: On the M-STEP, Michigan's statewide test, about 63 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level. The Michigan average is about 48 of 100.
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
60.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
40.0%
based on MI schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+20.6pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 61% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 40% 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 21 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 →
7-year change
SY 2017-18 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
271
-29 (-10%) vs 2017
Student : Teacher
16.6:1
was 21.0:1
% White
89%
was 96%
% Hispanic
2%
was 1%
% Black
0%
was 0%
% Asian
0%
was 0%
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
About Ontonagon Area School
Ontonagon Area School operates as a medium-sized combined-grade school in ONTONAGON, Michigan, operated by Ontonagon Area School District. Current enrollment sits at 271 students spanning grades K through 12.
Operationally, Ontonagon Area School answers to Ontonagon Area School District, which sets policy, hires staff, and reports enrollment to the state.
On the student-mix side, Ontonagon Area School lists that the student body is overwhelmingly White (89%); the rest is composed of 5% Native American, 3% multiracial, 2% Hispanic. That mix tracks the wider county fairly closely.
Looking at the economic backdrop, On paper, Ontonagon Area School has 16 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 16.6:1. The state averages around 17.3:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. Roughly 59% of students at Ontonagon Area School qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment. That share is noticeably below Ontonagon County's rate of about 69%.
Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Ontonagon Area School is in the OUTPERFORMING tier of the BeatsExpectations model, which fits a per-state line through proficiency and FRL share. Schools with this campus's poverty mix typically land near 40.0%; this one delivers 60.5%, a residual of +20.6 points.
Across the wider county, the surrounding county (Ontonagon County) shows that median household income runs about $54,398, 18% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and roughly 9% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Across Ontonagon County's 3 public schools (combined enrollment of about 493 students), Ontonagon Area School is one campus in the mix.
Nearest neighbor: Elm River Township School, around 18.3 miles off.
Geographically, the school is in a countryside area.
Five-year trend. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Ontonagon Area School has contracted 10%, going from 300 students in 2018 to 271 in 2025. The White share of enrollment shrank from 96% to 89% over that span. Class-load math has pulled in: from 21.0:1 in 2018 to 16.6:1 in 2025.
Within the allk12 community for this school, posts here usually surface around science fair prep, picture-day reminders, and bus-route questions. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.
Ontonagon County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
5,850
Census ACS
Median income
$54,398
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
18%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
9%
Below federal line
Schools in county
3
493 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Nearby schools
- Elm River Township School18.3 mi · 8
- EwenTrout Creek Consolidated School22.9 mi · 170
- GogebicOntonagon ISD Special Education23.2 mi · 52
- Jeffers High School32.0 mi · 270
- EB Holman Elementary School33.6 mi · 183
- South Range Elementary School33.7 mi · 204
Frequently asked questions
About Ontonagon Area SchoolHow many students attend Ontonagon Area School?
Ontonagon Area School enrolls approximately 271 students in grades KG-12.
What age range does Ontonagon Area School serve?
Ontonagon Area School serves students from grade KG through grade 12.
How many students per teacher at Ontonagon Area School?
Approximately 16.6:1 students per teacher at Ontonagon Area School.
What is the student diversity at Ontonagon Area School?
Student demographics at Ontonagon Area School are roughly 89% White, 2% Hispanic, 0% Black, 3% Two or more.
What district is Ontonagon Area School in?
Ontonagon Area School is part of Ontonagon Area School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.