Enrollment
224
Elementary
DISTRICT 217 · STATE 369
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·DOWAGIAC UNION SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 261215004921
Patrick Hamilton Elementary
614 SPRUCE ST, DOWAGIAC, MI 49047 · (269) 782-4450 · Cass County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY31-TOWNTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL224 STUDENTS
C-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 18% of Michigan public elementary schools
- DTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- C+Beats 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 elementary schools
Student : Teacher
15.4:1
15 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.7:1 · STATE 15.8:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
83%
186 students
DISTRICT 71% · STATE 55%
Community
0
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten | 41 | 18% |
| Grade 1 | 33 | 15% |
| Grade 2 | 27 | 12% |
| Grade 3 | 40 | 18% |
| Grade 4 | 45 | 20% |
| Grade 5 | 38 | 17% |
This year's kindergarten class (41) is 8% larger than its 5th grade class (38).
Student demographics
66%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 58% · 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
School pathway
Students here typically continue to
Based on grade levels within Dowagiac Union School District. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
M-STEP 2024-25 . % Advanced + ProficientEnglish Language Arts
28.9%
MI avg 47.7%
Math
25.7%
MI avg 44.8%
What this means: On the M-STEP, Michigan's statewide test, about 29 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 26 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
27.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
29.5%
based on MI schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-2.5pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 27% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 30% 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 Patrick Hamilton Elementary
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Patrick Hamilton Elementary this school | 224 | 83.0% | 27.0% |
| Moore Elementary School MOUNT MORRIS | 219 | 83.1% | N/A |
| Montague Elementary School MOUNT MORRIS | 199 | 81.9% | N/A |
| Rankin Elementary School SWARTZ CREEK | 237 | 84.4% | 30.4% |
| Zilwaukee School SAGINAW | 194 | 81.4% | N/A |
| Anderson Elementary School GRAND BLANC | 203 | 74.9% | N/A |
Matched among Michigan elementary 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 Patrick Hamilton Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Michigan | In Cass County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 27.0% | #989 of 1,085 | #8 of 8 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 25.7% | #980 of 1,072 | #7 of 8 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 28.9% | #996 of 1,139 | #8 of 8 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 224 | #1,354 of 1,630 | #8 of 9 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 15.4:1 | #584 of 1,424 | #3 of 9 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 65.9% | #159 of 1,424 | #1 of 9 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 83.0% | #310 of 1,563 | #1 of 9 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -16.4% | #354 of 979 | #5 of 9 |
Ranked against other public elementary 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
224
-6 (-3%) vs 2020
-11% since 1990-91, when it was 252
Student : Teacher
15.4:1
was 17.7:1
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 | 224 | 14.5 | 15.4:1 | 83% (186) |
| 2023-24 | 220 | 15.9 | 13.9:1 | 87% (191) |
| 2022-23 | 236 | 14.5 | 16.3:1 | 90% (213) |
| 2020-21 | 230 | 13 | 17.7:1 | 94% (216) |
| 2017-18 | 268 | 17.1 | 15.7:1 | 89% (238) |
| 2015-16 | 273 | 17 | 16.1:1 | 89% (242) |
| 2010-11 | 318 | 18 | 17.7:1 | 76% (241) |
| 2000-01 | 181 | 13 | 13.9:1 | 55% (100) |
| 1990-91 | 252 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Patrick Hamilton Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 16% (268 to 224); teachers down 15% (17.1 to 14.5).
About Patrick Hamilton Elementary
Patrick Hamilton Elementary, a small elementary school, is located in DOWAGIAC, Michigan. The latest federal count shows 224 students in kindergarten through 5. The average for elementary schools in Michigan is about 369 students, so this school is 39% smaller than average.
Dowagiac Union School District runs 7 schools with a combined 1,815 students. Patrick Hamilton Elementary is one of them.
At Patrick Hamilton Elementary, White students make up 52% of the student body. The remaining shares are 18% Black, 17% Hispanic, 8% multiracial, and 4% Native American. Cass County as a whole is about 85% White, so the school's share is lower. Patrick Hamilton Elementary's diversity index is 66%, against a US figure of 70%.
Teachers at the school number 14.5 full-time equivalents, and the ratio is 15.4:1. That is close to the 15.8:1 average for elementary schools in Michigan. Lunch subsidy eligibility at Patrick Hamilton Elementary is 83%. The average for public schools in Cass County is 54%.
Measured against Michigan public elementary schools, Patrick Hamilton Elementary receives a C-. The grade weighs proficiency most heavily, then how results compare with what the school's low-income share predicts, then the three-year change.
In Michigan, Patrick Hamilton Elementary is in the middle band of BeatsExpectations: 27.0% actual against a predicted 29.5%.
Cass County census figures show that the median household income is $70,443, about 22% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and roughly 9% of residents are in poverty. Cass County is home to 23 public schools and about 6,258 public school students.
The closest public school to Patrick Hamilton Elementary is Union High School, about 0.2 miles away. Counting only straight-line distance, 6 other public schools are within five miles. Its average proficiency rate of 27.0% is below the 36.5% average for nearby schools.
By NCES locale, the school is Town: Fringe, or in a town close to an urbanized area.
Enrollment declined 3% from its 2020-21 level of 230. Staffing shifted too: the ratio moved from 17.7:1 to 15.4:1.
Parents and students can post about sports tryouts, band and choir, and theater at Patrick Hamilton Elementary. Alumni can share how the school prepared them.
Cass County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
51,520
Census ACS
Median income
$70,443
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
22%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
9%
Below federal line
Schools in county
23
6,258 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Dowagiac Union School District
- Union High SchoolHigh · 507 students
- Dowagiac Middle SchoolMiddle · 393 students
- Justus Gage Elementary SchoolElementary · 262 students
- Kincheloe Elementary SchoolElementary · 214 students
- Sister Lakes Elementary SchoolElementary · 166 students
- Pathfinders Alternative EdHigh · 49 students
Other schools in DOWAGIAC
- Union High SchoolHigh · 507 students
- Dowagiac Middle SchoolMiddle · 393 students
- Justus Gage Elementary SchoolElementary · 262 students
- Kincheloe Elementary SchoolElementary · 214 students
- Pathfinders Alternative EdHigh · 49 students
- North Pointe CenterCombined · 44 students
Nearby schools
- Union High School0.2 mi · 507
- Pathfinders Alternative Ed0.3 mi · 49
- North Pointe Center0.7 mi · 44
- Justus Gage Elementary School0.8 mi · 262
- Dowagiac Middle School1.6 mi · 393
- Kincheloe Elementary School4.2 mi · 214
Frequently asked questions
About Patrick Hamilton ElementaryWhat is the total enrollment at Patrick Hamilton Elementary?
Patrick Hamilton Elementary enrolls approximately 224 students in grades KG-05.
What grades does Patrick Hamilton Elementary serve?
Patrick Hamilton Elementary serves grades KG-05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Patrick Hamilton Elementary?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Patrick Hamilton Elementary is approximately 15.4:1 (15 FTE teachers).
How diverse is Patrick Hamilton Elementary?
Patrick Hamilton Elementary reports a student body of 52% White, 17% Hispanic, 18% Black, 1% Asian, 8% Two or more.
Who oversees Patrick Hamilton Elementary?
Patrick Hamilton Elementary is overseen by Dowagiac Union School District in Cass County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.