Summary:
Forest Hills Public Schools is a top-ranked Michigan district (11th out of 625 statewide) serving about 8,239 students across 18 schools—8 elementary, 6 middle, and 4 high schools—in the Grand Rapids area, with academic proficiency rates that run 30–40 percentage points above state averages.
For parents, the standout options are clear. Central High School is the district’s academic powerhouse, ranking 9th in Michigan with a 98.3% graduation rate and 72.5% SAT math proficiency—far outpacing Northern High School (57.3% math) and Eastern High School (70.3% math). At the elementary level, Knapp Forest Elementary School ranks 6th in Michigan with 89.9% 5th-grade science proficiency, while Goodwillie Environmental School—the district’s smallest traditional school at 103 students—posts the highest 5th-grade ELA score in the district (92.3%) despite having the largest class sizes. For middle school, Central Middle School leads with 81.2% 8th-grade math proficiency, well above Northern Hills Middle School and Eastern Middle School. A consistent "Central" advantage emerges across all levels, with Central schools showing lower chronic absenteeism and higher test scores than their Northern counterparts.
Key takeaways for families: math proficiency dips in upper grades district-wide, and chronic absenteeism is notably higher at Northern (17.1%) and Eastern (16.2%) high schools versus Central (11.7%). Collins Elementary School is the only school showing a dramatic decline, dropping 168 spots in state ranking. Spending doesn’t predict success—Ada Elementary School spends the most among traditional schools yet ranks 25th, while Goodwillie spends the least and excels. Even the district’s "lower-performing" schools, like Meadow Brook Elementary School (26.45% free/reduced lunch), still dramatically outperform state averages, making this a consistently excellent district where school choice largely comes down to fit and feeder patterns rather than quality concerns.
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