Riverside Middle School

Riverside Middle School, a low-enrollment 6-8 campus in GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan, part of Grand Rapids Public Schools, works with 227 students, covering grades 6 through 8. Enrollment runs roughly 55% smaller than the state mean of about 502.

Within Grand Rapids Public Schools, which oversees 50 schools and 13,903 students, Riverside Middle School is one campus in the system.

Looking at the student body, Riverside Middle School lists that Black students make up the majority at 61%. Beyond that, the school logs 17% Hispanic, 11% White, 10% multiracial. By comparison, Kent County as a whole is about 10% Black, so the school skews considerably more Black than its surroundings.

On the income-and-resources front, On paper, Riverside Middle School has 20 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 11.3:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 17.5:1 average. Roughly 91% of students at Riverside Middle School qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. By comparison, Kent County runs at roughly 47%, so the school's eligibility rate is somewhat above the surrounding baseline.

Around the school, census data for Kent County shows median household earnings sit near $82,631, about 41% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and roughly 6% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Across Kent County's 239 public schools (combined enrollment of about 97,253 students), Riverside Middle School is one campus in the mix.

Nearest neighbor: Palmer School, around 0.6 miles off. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Riverside Middle School.

Geographically, the school is in an urban area.

Trend over the last 7 years. Riverside Middle School's enrollment has decreased 7% since 2018, when it stood at 244 (now 227). Over the same period, the Black share rose from 55% to 61%. Class-load math has tightened: from 14.8:1 in 2018 to 11.3:1 in 2025.

On the community side, the feed for Riverside Middle School typically covers fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.