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Does Plainwell Middle School have enough mental health and stress support?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
569
Middle
DISTRICT 437 · STATE 502
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·PLAINWELL COMMUNITY SCHOOLS·NCES 262853006404
Plainwell Middle School
720 BRIGHAM ST, PLAINWELL, MI 49080 · (269) 685-5813 · Allegan County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE31-TOWNREGULAR SCHOOL569 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
17.5:1
33 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 20.5:1 · STATE 17.5:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
32%
184 students
DISTRICT 38% · 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 6 | 177 | 31% |
| Grade 7 | 193 | 34% |
| Grade 8 | 199 | 35% |
Student demographics
21%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 24% · 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
Based on grade levels within Plainwell Community Schools. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
M-STEP 2024-25 . % Advanced + ProficientEnglish Language Arts
35.8%
MI avg 47.7%
Math
33.9%
MI avg 44.8%
What this means: On the M-STEP, Michigan's statewide test, about 36 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 34 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
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of MI schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
38.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
52.0%
based on MI schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-13.9pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 38% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 52% typical for Michigan schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
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 Plainwell Middle School
Plainwell Middle School's state test result (38.1% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plainwell Middle School this school | 569 | 32.3% | 38.1% |
| Vicksburg Middle School VICKSBURG | 601 | 32.1% | 46.9% |
| Linden Middle School LINDEN | 577 | 29.5% | 44.0% |
| Fowlerville Junior High School FOWLERVILLE | 550 | 33.5% | 40.1% |
| Lakewood Middle School WOODLAND | 514 | 30.7% | 33.7% |
| Fort Gratiot Middle School FORT GRATIOT | 533 | 34.9% | 44.0% |
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 Plainwell Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Michigan | In Allegan County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 38.1% | #256 of 397 | #6 of 9 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 33.9% | #200 of 380 | #5 of 9 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 35.8% | #270 of 377 | #4 of 9 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 569 | #203 of 491 | #3 of 9 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 17.5:1 | #219 of 436 | #8 of 8 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 21.1% | #319 of 437 | #7 of 8 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 32.3% | #333 of 477 | #7 of 9 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -9.1% | #228 of 339 | #6 of 7 |
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
569
-76 (-12%) vs 2020
-1% since 1990-91, when it was 574
Student : Teacher
17.5:1
was 19.6:1
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 | 569 | 32.6 | 17.5:1 | 32% (184) |
| 2023-24 | 587 | 35 | 16.8:1 | 39% (227) |
| 2022-23 | 596 | 33.6 | 17.7:1 | 41% (246) |
| 2020-21 | 645 | 33 | 19.6:1 | 34% (221) |
| 2017-18 | 626 | 33.1 | 18.9:1 | 34% (214) |
| 2015-16 | 634 | 30 | 21.1:1 | 37% (235) |
| 2010-11 | 638 | 35 | 18.2:1 | 32% (204) |
| 2000-01 | 622 | 40 | 15.6:1 | 15% (91) |
| 1990-91 | 574 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Plainwell Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students down 9% (626 to 569); teachers down 2% (33.1 to 32.6).
About Plainwell Middle School
Plainwell Middle School is a public mid-sized middle school in PLAINWELL, Michigan. Total enrollment is 569 students, and the grades served are 6 through 8.
Plainwell Community Schools (6 schools, 2,620 students) runs Plainwell Middle School.
Plainwell Middle School is 89% White by enrollment. Beyond that, enrollment is 5% multiracial and 5% Hispanic. That is in line with Allegan County, where about 87% of residents are White. Measured by the diversity index, the student body scores 21%.
Plainwell Middle School has 32.6 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of about 17.5:1. The 17.5:1 average for middle schools in Michigan is close to this figure. A common income measure, free or reduced-price lunch eligibility, is 32% at Plainwell Middle School. The gap from the 43% average for public schools in Allegan County is 11 points.
The allk12 BeatsExpectations score for Plainwell Middle School is -13.9 points, in the bottom 10% of Michigan. Its average proficiency rate across its state test results is 38.1%, and the predicted rate is 52.0%.
For Allegan County, Census Bureau data show median household income comes to about $83,283, about 27% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and roughly 5% of residents are in poverty. There are 55 public schools in the county, enrolling about 17,174, Plainwell Middle School among them.
A public school about 0.1 miles away, Starr Elementary School, is the closest to Plainwell Middle School. Plainwell Middle School has at least 8 other public schools within five miles. Plainwell Middle School comes in 5th of 6 nearby schools on average proficiency.
The NCES locale for Plainwell Middle School is Town: Fringe, which covers schools in a town close to an urbanized area.
From 2020-21 to 2024-25, enrollment decreased from 645 to 569, a 12% decline. Federal data show the ratio falling from 19.6:1 to 17.5:1.
This community page is for conversations about athletics, class schedules, and weather closures. You can also rate the school on this page.
Allegan County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
121,456
Census ACS
Median income
$83,283
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
27%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
5%
Below federal line
Schools in county
55
17,174 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Plainwell Community Schools
- Plainwell High SchoolHigh · 828 students
- Gilkey Elementary SchoolElementary · 439 students
- Starr Elementary SchoolElementary · 410 students
- Cooper Elementary SchoolElementary · 288 students
- Renaissance High SchoolHigh · 86 students
Other schools in PLAINWELL
- Plainwell High SchoolHigh · 828 students
- Gilkey Elementary SchoolElementary · 439 students
- Starr Elementary SchoolElementary · 410 students
- Renaissance High SchoolHigh · 86 students
Nearby schools
- Starr Elementary School0.1 mi · 410
- Plainwell High School0.2 mi · 828
- Gilkey Elementary School0.6 mi · 439
- Renaissance High School1.3 mi · 86
- Dix Street Elementary School2.3 mi · 357
- Washington Street Elementary School3.2 mi · 448
Frequently asked questions
About Plainwell Middle SchoolHow many students attend Plainwell Middle School?
Plainwell Middle School enrolls approximately 569 students in grades 06-08.
What age range does Plainwell Middle School serve?
Plainwell Middle School serves students from grade 06 through grade 08.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Plainwell Middle School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Plainwell Middle School is approximately 17.5:1 (33 FTE teachers).
What is the student diversity at Plainwell Middle School?
Student demographics at Plainwell Middle School are roughly 89% White, 5% Hispanic, 1% Black, 5% Two or more.
What district is Plainwell Middle School in?
Plainwell Middle School is part of Plainwell Community Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.