Middle Schools in Grand Rapids Public Schools

Summary:

The Grand Rapids Public Schools district in Michigan is home to 8 middle schools, serving students in grades 6-8. These schools vary significantly in their academic performance, with a few standout institutions like Grand Rapids Public Museum Middle and the specialized Blandford School and Center for Economicology outperforming their peers.

Grand Rapids Public Museum Middle appears to be the highest-performing middle school in the district, with 50.9% of 8th graders proficient in English Language Arts and 37% proficient in Science on the 2023-2024 M-Step exams. The school also has a relatively low chronic absenteeism rate of 29.5% and a student-teacher ratio of 16.2. In contrast, the district-wide proficiency rates on the 2024-2025 M-Step exams ranged from 16.6% to 28.1% in English Language Arts and 16.6% to 18.3% in Math, well below the state averages.

The data also reveals that the smaller, more specialized middle schools like Blandford School and Center for Economicology are outperforming their larger peers, with proficiency rates as high as 74.1% in English Language Arts and 65.5% in Math for 6th graders. However, the district as a whole faces challenges, including consistently high chronic absenteeism rates and wide variations in per-student spending, which may contribute to the significant performance gaps observed across the middle schools.

District Detail

1331 Martin Luther King Jr St
Grand Rapids, MI 49506-2634

(616) 819-2000

SchoolDigger Rank:
462^nd of 613 Michigan districts

See the 2025 Michigan District rankings!

Grades served: PK, KG-12
Students: 13,567

Primary Schools: 23
Middle Schools: 8
High Schools: 15
Alternative Schools: 2

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2025)				Ranking (2024)				PSAT English Language Arts (2025)	PSAT Mathematics (2025)	M-Step English Language Arts (2025)		M-Step Math (2025)		M-Step Science (2025)	M-Step Social Studies (2025)	Per Pupil Expenditures (2024)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Statewide Rank (2024)	State Percentile (2024)	Rank Change from Previous Year	PSAT English Language Arts 8th Grade	PSAT Mathematics 8th Grade	M-Step English Language Arts 6th Grade	M-Step English Language Arts 7th Grade	M-Step Math 6th Grade	M-Step Math 7th Grade	M-Step Science 8th Grade	M-Step Social Studies 8th Grade	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
Burton Middle School	Public	6-8	2133 Buchanan Ave SW	Grand Rapids	49507	Kent County	Grand Rapids Public Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(616) 819-2269	488	26	19.1	77.9%	13 (2.7%)	107 (21.9%)	358 (73.4%)	3 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (1.4%)	5.2	875^th of 890 public middle schools	1.7%		4.4	891^st of 897 public middle schools	0.7%	16	25.3	4.2	3.8	5.4		2.6	10.2	12.9	$20,581	$6,146	$14,435
Blandford School	Public	6	3143 Milo St NW	Grand Rapids	49534	Kent County	Grand Rapids Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(616) 819-2555	60	3	24.0	23.3%	50 (83.3%)	1 (1.7%)	7 (11.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (3.3%)								(n/a)			74.1		65.5				$18,856	$5,362	$13,494
John Ball Park Zoo School	Public	6	1300 Fulton St W	Grand Rapids	49504	Kent County	Grand Rapids Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(616) 819-3344	58	3	22.3	43.1%	47 (81.0%)	2 (3.4%)	3 (5.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (10.3%)								(n/a)			78.2		54.5				$20,007	$5,110	$14,898
Riverside Middle School	Public	6-8	265 Eleanor St NE	Grand Rapids	49505	Kent County	Grand Rapids Public Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(616) 819-2969	227	20	11.3	91.2%	26 (11.5%)	139 (61.2%)	38 (16.7%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	23 (10.1%)	3	889^th of 890 public middle schools	0.1%		4.6	887^th of 897 public middle schools	1.1%	2	13.0		4.6				7.2	7.2	$22,454	$6,629	$15,825
Westwood Middle School	Public	6-8	1525 Mount Mercy Dr NW	Grand Rapids	49504	Kent County	Grand Rapids Public Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(616) 819-3322	176	17	10.3	86.9%	24 (13.6%)	65 (36.9%)	61 (34.7%)	1 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	25 (14.2%)	4.5	883^rd of 890 public middle schools	0.8%		4.3	892^nd of 897 public middle schools	0.6%	9	32.2			5.0			5.1	6.7	$24,575	$5,995	$18,580
Center for Economicology	Public	6	1720 Plainfield Ave NE	Grand Rapids	49505	Kent County	Grand Rapids Public Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(616) 819-2380	60	2	25.5	40.0%	29 (48.3%)	7 (11.7%)	20 (33.3%)	3 (5.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.7%)								(n/a)			67.8		59.3				$15,694	$5,087	$10,607
Alger Middle School	Public	6-8	921 Alger St SE	Grand Rapids	49507	Kent County	Grand Rapids Public Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(616) 819-6200	314	20	16.0	89.2%	28 (8.9%)	198 (63.1%)	56 (17.8%)	2 (0.6%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	29 (9.2%)	4.7	882^nd of 890 public middle schools	0.9%		4.6	889^th of 897 public middle schools	0.9%	7	23.0	3.5	6.3	7.1			9.6	7.1	$22,505	$7,322	$15,183
Grand Rapids Public Museum Middle	Public	6-8	272 Pearl St NW	Grand Rapids	49504	Kent County	Grand Rapids Public Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(616) 819-3600	175	10	18.2	64.6%	57 (32.6%)	41 (23.4%)	49 (28.0%)	2 (1.1%)	1 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	25 (14.3%)	17.3	724^th of 890 public middle schools	18.7%		34.2	575^th of 897 public middle schools	35.9%	149	50.9	5.5	16.1	20.0	14.5	20.0	14.3	19.6	$19,932	$5,152	$14,780

Districts nearby

District	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
Gerald Dawkins Academy	0.61 mi	1	520^th
East Grand Rapids Public Schools	0.86 mi	6	4^th
William C. Abney Academy	0.94 mi	1	569^th
River City Scholars Charter Academy	1.06 mi	1	515^th
Kent Independent School District (Isd)	1.23 mi	12

See the top MI Michigan districts

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Michigan Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.