Spring Lake Public Schools

Spring Lake Public Schools is a top-ranked Michigan district serving about 2,271 students across six schools—two elementary, two middle-level, and two high schools—in an affluent lakeshore community. The district ranks 7th out of 625 Michigan districts (99th percentile) with a 5-star rating, and its schools consistently outperform state averages by wide margins.

For parents, the standout choice is Holmes Elementary School, which ranks 7th in Michigan (100th percentile) and has climbed from 33rd to 7th over three years. Its 4th-grade math proficiency (90.6%) is more than double the state average. Jeffers Elementary School is close behind at 12th in the state. At the secondary level, Spring Lake High School posts a 100% graduation rate and 0% dropout rate, with SAT reading proficiency at 82% (state: 52.1%) and math at 53.5% (state: 26.5%). The middle schools—Spring Lake Middle School and Spring Lake Intermediate School—rank in the 94th-96th percentiles, slightly below the elementary schools' top-1% performance. Spring Lake Alternative Education, serving just 13 high-needs students, achieves a 94.1% graduation rate with a 10:1 student-teacher ratio and $26,063 per-student spending.

Key takeaways: Math proficiency drops from 86.7% in 3rd grade to 53.5% in 11th grade—a 33-point decline, though still far above state levels. The 9th-grade PSAT ELA score of 90.9% is the district's largest advantage over the state (30.7 points). Chronic absenteeism at the high school (15.6%) is double Holmes Elementary's rate (7.5%), possibly reflecting off-campus opportunities. The intermediate school's 5th-grade social studies proficiency (52%) is its weakest subject. Science scores at the middle and high schools dipped 5-12 points year-over-year, warranting monitoring. Overall, this district delivers exceptional outcomes across all demographics, with the alternative school outperforming state graduation averages by 10 points despite serving a 69.2% free/reduced-lunch population.