Pennfield Purdy School

Pennfield Purdy School is an elementary school of cozy scale in BATTLE CREEK, Michigan, overseen by Pennfield Schools, enrolling 197 students in grades K through 2. That puts it 47% smaller than the typical public school in Michigan, which averages around 369 students.

Pennfield Schools comprises 5 schools with combined enrollment of 1,877 students; Pennfield Purdy School is among them.

For racial and ethnic makeup, Pennfield Purdy School reports that 75% of the student body identifies as White. The remainder comes out to 10% multiracial, 8% Black, 6% Hispanic. That mix tracks the wider county fairly closely.

Looking at the economic backdrop, The school reports having 14 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 14.6:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 15.8:1, putting Pennfield Purdy School tighter than the state norm the norm. Roughly 69% of students at Pennfield Purdy School qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. Set against Calhoun County (around 56%), the school's rate is noticeably above typical.

Around the school, census data for Calhoun County shows median household earnings sit near $63,177, 23% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 10%. Pennfield Purdy School is one of 56 public schools in Calhoun County (combined enrollment of about 18,982 students).

The closest other public school is Fremont International Academy, roughly 1.6 miles away. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Pennfield Purdy School.

Pennfield Purdy School operates from a bedroom-community location.

Trend over the last 7 years. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Pennfield Purdy School has shrank 24%, going from 258 students in 2018 to 197 in 2025. The student-to-teacher ratio tightened from 17.1:1 in 2018 to 14.6:1 today.

In the discussion threads here, members of the Pennfield Purdy School community share and discuss fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.