Summary:
Nottawa Community School is the sole PK-8 elementary school in the Nottawa Community School district, serving 189 students in the Sturgis, Michigan area with a free/reduced lunch rate of about 50%.
For parents, the most encouraging news is that this small school shows real strengths in its upper grades. In 7th grade English Language Arts, 45% of students met state standards—beating the Michigan average of 38.4%. The 8th grade shines even brighter: science proficiency hit 47.6% (state: 39.2%), social studies reached 57.1% (state: 50.3%), and PSAT ELA scores of 66.7% edged past the state’s 64.8%. This pattern suggests that students gain academic momentum as they move through the school, with upper-grade programming in literacy, science, and social studies being particularly effective. Attendance is also a standout—chronic absenteeism sits at just 13.1%, less than half the state’s 27.9%, which points to strong engagement and family support.
However, math remains a persistent challenge across nearly every grade. Third-grade math proficiency was 25% versus the state’s 42.9%, and 8th grade PSAT math lagged at 23.8% compared to 33.2% statewide. The only bright spot was 7th grade math, which jumped to 40%, exceeding the state average. Parents should also be aware of significant year-to-year swings—for example, 6th grade ELA plummeted from 47.6% to 16.7% between school years. With only 15-20 students per grade, these dramatic shifts likely reflect different cohorts rather than systemic problems. The school’s state ranking has slipped from the 38th to 21st percentile over three years, even as some subject scores improved, suggesting other Michigan schools are advancing faster. With a favorable 14.9:1 student-teacher ratio and per-student spending of $11,461, Nottawa offers a supportive environment, but targeted math intervention in early grades and strategies to stabilize cohort performance would help build on its clear upper-grade successes.
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