WAY Eau Claire

As a minimally staffed four-year high school in EAU CLAIRE, Michigan, WAY Eau Claire instructs 35 students from grades 9 through 12, overseen by Eau Claire Public Schools. That puts it 92% below the typical public school in Michigan, which averages around 460 students.

Eau Claire Public Schools runs 4 schools in total, collectively educating 587 students. WAY Eau Claire is one of those campuses.

On the student-mix side, WAY Eau Claire shows that the largest single group is White at 51%, but no single group is in the majority; the rest looks like 23% Hispanic, 17% Black, 9% multiracial. That is visibly less White than the county at large, where the share is closer to 74%.

In terms of school funding signals, WAY Eau Claire logs 11 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 3.1:1. The state averages around 21.6:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. Around 86% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. That share is noticeably above Berrien County's rate of about 55%.

Zooming out to the county, census data for Berrien County shows median household earnings sit near $65,425, about 31% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and the poverty rate sits near 11%. Across Berrien County's 75 public schools (combined enrollment of about 21,027 students), WAY Eau Claire is one campus in the mix.

The closest other public school is Lybrook Elementary School, roughly 0.2 miles away. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius.

The school occupies a small-town site. WAY Eau Claire delivers learning online rather than in a traditional classroom setting.

Five-year trend. WAY Eau Claire's enrollment has edged down 5% since 2018, when it stood at 37 (now 35). The Black share of enrollment ticked down from 38% to 17% over that span. The student-to-teacher ratio fell from 12.3:1 in 2018 to 3.1:1 today.

Within the allk12 community for this school, the feed for WAY Eau Claire typically covers open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.