Grand Rapids Public Schools
Public school district · Kent County · Michigan · NCES district ID 2616440
Grand Rapids Public Schools spent $17,565 per student on current operations in fiscal year 2022-23, more than 90% of the other Michigan districts with at least 1,000 students in fall 2022 (median $14,214). Its 47 schools enrolled 13,567 students in 2024-25; 44.1% of its revenue came from the state. Census Bureau figures for 2023-24 put it at $19,531 per student, up 11.2% on the year before (U.S. $17,619 that year). Its four-year graduation rate for the class of 2023 was 82% (Michigan: 81.8%).
NCES F-33 finance survey, fiscal year 2022-23 · Census Bureau school finances 2023-24 · NCES Common Core of Data 2024-25 · method
Spending per student among Michigan's largest districts
Current spending per student excludes construction and debt. Among the 10 districts shown, Grand Rapids Public Schools ranks 4.
Where the money came from
$311,470,000 in revenue: 44.1% state, 35.6% local and 20.3% federal. Total spending including $32,436,000 of capital outlay was $304,711,000, or $22,101 per student; the figure above leaves capital out.
- State$137,508,000 44%
- Local$110,818,000 36%
- Federal$63,144,000 20%
Source: NCES F-33 school district finance survey, fiscal year 2022-23: current expenditures for elementary and secondary education divided by fall membership; the state median covers 347 districts with at least 1,000 students in fall 2022. Revenue by source (TOTALREV, TFEDREV, TSTREV, TLOCREV).
Enrollment held steady from 2022-23 to 2024-25
13,657 students in 2022-23, 13,662 students in 2023-24, 13,567 students in 2024-25, counted across the schools that reported each year.
Teachers and students per teacher
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Per teacher |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-23 | 13,657 | 773.4 | 17.7 |
| 2023-24 | 13,662 | 796.0 | 17.2 |
| 2024-25 | 13,567 | 824.4 | 16.5 |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data membership and staff files, 2022-23, 2023-24, 2024-25; sums over the schools reporting each year.
$49,787,000 in teacher salaries in fiscal year 2022-23, $3,611 per student
Grand Rapids Public Schools booked $49,787,000 of teacher salaries in its 2022-23 finance report and counted 796 full-time teachers in its Common Core of Data district staff file for 2022-23 (the school files behind the staffing figures on this page count teachers separately, so the two can differ), or $62,549 of salary spending per teacher. That is more than 51 in 100 Michigan districts with a figure (state median $62,387, 536 districts). It is spending, not what a teacher is paid: the salary lines and the teacher count come from different files, so the result can differ widely from the average salary the district publishes (its salary schedule gives pay); benefits are left out, and states book salaries differently, so compare districts within one state. For pay, the National Education Association put the average Michigan teacher salary at $65,198 in 2021-22 (NCES Digest table 211.60).
| Program | Teacher salaries | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Regular programs | $41,051,000 | 82.5% |
| Special education | $6,188,000 | 12.4% |
| Other programs | $2,548,000 | 5.1% |
Teacher salaries per student, fiscal years 2018-19 to 2022-23
The district's teacher salary bill divided by its fall enrollment each year: $3,621 in 2018-19, $3,562 in 2019-20, $3,787 in 2020-21, $3,876 in 2021-22, $3,611 in 2022-23.
Source: NCES F-33 school district finance survey, fiscal years 2019 to 2023: teacher salaries in regular, special, vocational and other programs (Z35 to Z38) and fall membership (V33); NCES Common Core of Data LEA staff file 2022-23, teachers (full-time equivalent).
State test results, 2021-22
In 2021-22, the students tested in Grand Rapids Public Schools scored proficient or above: 27% in reading and 16% in math, against 44% in reading and 34% in math across Michigan. Each state writes its own test and sets its own proficiency bar, so compare these within Michigan, not across states. Where a state published results by grade only, the grades tested are combined, weighted by the students tested in each.
| Subject | This district | Michigan | Students tested |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reading and language arts | 27% | 44% | 6,241 |
| Math | 16% | 34% | 6,202 |
Source: U.S. Department of Education, EDFacts state assessment results 2021-22, all students, from ED Data Express (the Data Rescue Project archive; ED has no 2022-23 result for this district): ED shows district results as ranges (for example 20-24%) to protect small groups.
Graduation rate, class of 2023
82% of the 829 students in Grand Rapids Public Schools' class of 2023 graduated within four years, against 81.8% across Michigan. The four-year rate follows the students who started ninth grade in fall 2019, adjusted for those who moved in or out, and counts those who earned a regular diploma by 2023. Every state computes it the same way under federal law, though each sets its own diploma requirements.
| This district | Michigan | |
|---|---|---|
| Four-year graduation rate | 82% | 81.8% |
| Students in the class | 829 | 115,301 |
Source: U.S. Department of Education, EDFacts four-year adjusted-cohort graduation rates 2022-23, all students, from ED Data Express: ED shows district rates as ranges (for example 90-94%) and leaves out small classes.
23 elementary schools, 7,095 students
| School | Students | Per teacher | Free lunch | Title I, 2021‑22 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harrison Park Academy | 708 | 15.8 | 81.4% | Schoolwide program |
| Southwest Elementary Academia Bilingue | 661 | 21.1 | 63.1% | Schoolwide program |
| CA Frost Environmental Science Academy Elementary | 476 | 19.2 | 35.3% | Schoolwide program |
| Cesar E Chavez Elementary | 437 | 16.9 | 81.0% | Schoolwide program |
| Buchanan Elementary | 379 | 16.6 | 81.8% | Schoolwide program |
| North Park Montessori Academy | 379 | 13.8 | 21.9% | Schoolwide program |
| Kent Hills Elementary | 370 | 20.8 | 84.6% | Schoolwide program |
| Burton Elementary | 365 | 15.6 | 78.4% | Schoolwide program |
| Sibley School | 308 | 11.6 | 78.9% | Schoolwide program |
| Martin Luther King Leadership Academy | 299 | 18.5 | 91.3% | Schoolwide program |
| Shawmut Hills School | 267 | 15.4 | 67.8% | Schoolwide program |
| Mulick Park Elementary School | 264 | 16.1 | 79.9% | Schoolwide program |
The other 11 elementary schools
| School | Students | Per teacher | Free lunch | Title I, 2021‑22 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brookside Elementary | 254 | 16.6 | 71.7% | Schoolwide program |
| Coit Creative Arts Academy | 246 | 13.8 | 68.3% | Schoolwide program |
| Aberdeen Academy | 241 | 12.4 | 67.2% | Schoolwide program |
| Congress Elementary | 237 | 21.0 | 58.6% | Schoolwide program |
| Dickinson Academy | 224 | 11.9 | 82.1% | Schoolwide program |
| Gerald R Ford Academic Center | 213 | 16.1 | 80.3% | Schoolwide program |
| Campus Elementary | 210 | 15.6 | 91.9% | Schoolwide program |
| Palmer School | 187 | 17.6 | 73.8% | Schoolwide program |
| Ridgemoor Park Montessori | 131 | 16.6 | 34.4% | Targeted program |
| Sherwood Global Studies Academy | 121 | 11.6 | 73.6% | Schoolwide program |
| KenOSha Park Elementary | 118 | 15.7 | 86.4% | Schoolwide program |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data 2024-25; Title I status CCD 2021-22, the last year NCES published it. All free (CEP): every student eats free under the Community Eligibility Provision, so the school reports no free-lunch count; not reported: the school sent NCES no meal count.
8 middle schools, 1,558 students
| School | Students | Per teacher | Free lunch | Title I, 2021‑22 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burton Middle School | 488 | 19.1 | 74.0% | Schoolwide program |
| Alger Middle School | 314 | 16.1 | 85.7% | Schoolwide program |
| Riverside Middle School | 227 | 11.3 | 90.7% | Schoolwide program |
| Westwood Middle School | 176 | 10.3 | 83.0% | Schoolwide program |
| Grand Rapids Public Museum Middle | 175 | 18.2 | 57.7% | Targeted program |
| Blandford School | 60 | 24.0 | 13.3% | Not Title I |
| Center for Economicology | 60 | 25.5 | 38.3% | Targeted program |
| John Ball Park Zoo School | 58 | 22.3 | 31.0% | Eligible, no program |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data 2024-25; Title I status CCD 2021-22, the last year NCES published it. All free (CEP): every student eats free under the Community Eligibility Provision, so the school reports no free-lunch count; not reported: the school sent NCES no meal count.
15 high schools, 4,617 students
| School | Students | Per teacher | Free lunch | Title I, 2021‑22 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| City MiddleHigh | 955 | 22.1 | 25.3% | Targeted program |
| Union High School | 881 | 14.3 | 73.3% | Schoolwide program |
| Grand Rapids University Preparatory Academy | 494 | 16.4 | 69.2% | Schoolwide program |
| Innovation Central High | 386 | 13.9 | 76.7% | Schoolwide program |
| Ottawa Hills High School | 385 | 13.4 | 81.6% | Schoolwide program |
| Southwest MiddleHigh Academia Bilingue | 378 | 21.1 | 62.7% | Targeted program |
| CA Frost Environmental Science Academy Middle High School | 309 | 19.3 | 53.1% | Schoolwide program |
| Grand Rapids Public Museum High | 267 | 16.4 | 43.1% | Targeted program |
| Grand Rapids Montessori MiddleHigh | 184 | 16.2 | 49.5% | Schoolwide program |
| Newcomers Community School | 157 | 52.3 | 58.6% | Schoolwide program |
| Southeast Career Pathways | 106 | 17.7 | 78.3% | Schoolwide program |
| Union High Transition | 50 | not reported | 62.0% | Not Title I |
The other 3 high schools
| School | Students | Per teacher | Free lunch | Title I, 2021‑22 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Rapids Learning Center | 39 | 19.5 | 61.5% | Schoolwide program |
| Ottawa High Transition | 14 | 14.0 | 85.7% | Not Title I |
| Bethany Based School | 12 | 7.5 | 50.0% | Not Title I |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data 2024-25; Title I status CCD 2021-22, the last year NCES published it. All free (CEP): every student eats free under the Community Eligibility Provision, so the school reports no free-lunch count; not reported: the school sent NCES no meal count.
1 other school, 297 students
| School | Students | Per teacher | Free lunch | Title I, 2021‑22 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Rapids Montessori Academy | 297 | 16.5 | 39.1% | Schoolwide program |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data 2024-25; Title I status CCD 2021-22, the last year NCES published it. All free (CEP): every student eats free under the Community Eligibility Provision, so the school reports no free-lunch count; not reported: the school sent NCES no meal count.
3 more schools on file: small, closed or in an earlier directory
These records carry fewer federal fields than a full school page needs, so each is summarized here with what NCES reports.
East Leonard Elementary
School in Grand Rapids; last listed in the 2024-25 NCES directory (closed); 167 students; 13.1 students per teacher.
Stocking Elementary
School in Grand Rapids; last listed in the 2024-25 NCES directory (closed); 148 students; 17.4 students per teacher.
Home Education Site
School in Grand Rapids; last listed in the 2024-25 NCES directory (closed); 1 student.
Source: NCES Common Core of Data 2024-25 and earlier directories: the last year each school was listed, its students and its teachers.
Contact Grand Rapids Public Schools
- Website: grps.org
- Phone: (616) 819-2000
- Office: 1331 Martin Luther King Jr St Se, Grand Rapids, MI 49506
Source: NCES Common Core of Data, local education agency directory 2024-25. Enrollment, boundaries and school assignment are the district's to confirm.
What to look at next about Grand Rapids Public Schools
- Michigan districts by spending per studentGrand Rapids Public Schools ranks 37 of 347 Michigan districts with at least 1,000 students in fall 2022 on current spending per student in fiscal year 2022-23 ($17,565).#37 of 347
- Every school district in MichiganGrand Rapids Public Schools is the number 8 by size of 892 Michigan districts, with 13,787 students in fall 2022 (F-33).#8 of 892
- Chippewa Valley SchoolsThe next larger Michigan district: 14,703 students in fall 2022, $13,999 per student in fiscal year 2022-23.$13,999
- Livonia Public SchoolsThe next smaller Michigan district: 13,228 students in fall 2022, $16,627 per student in fiscal year 2022-23.$16,627
- Compare Grand Rapids Public Schools with Chippewa Valley SchoolsEnrollment, spending, revenue sources and schools, side by side.
- City MiddleHigh, its largest high school955 students in 2024-25, 22.1 per teacher.955
- Teacher salary spending across MichiganGrand Rapids Public Schools spent $62,549 in salaries per full-time teacher in fiscal year 2022-23 (state median $62,387); spending, not a salary.$62,549
- Find the school district for an addressA home's district decides which public schools it can enroll in.
Source: NCES F-33 finance survey, fiscal year 2022-23 (spending per student and fall 2022 membership; ranks among the state's districts that reported them); NCES Common Core of Data 2024-25 (schools).
Questions about Grand Rapids Public Schools
How many schools and students are in Grand Rapids Public Schools?
47 schools were open in 2024-25 (23 elementary, 8 middle, 15 high, 1 other), enrolling 13,567 students, according to the NCES Common Core of Data.How much does Grand Rapids Public Schools spend per student?
$17,565 per student on current operations in fiscal year 2022-23 (NCES F-33), which leaves out construction and debt; the Michigan median for districts with at least 1,000 students in fall 2022 is $14,214 and the U.S. figure is $16,260. Census Bureau figures for 2023-24 put it at $19,531 per student, up 11.2% on the year before (U.S. $17,619 that year).Where does Grand Rapids Public Schools' money come from?
$311,470,000 in revenue in fiscal year 2022-23: 44.1% state, 35.6% local and 20.3% federal (NCES F-33).How many children in Grand Rapids Public Schools live in poverty?
The Census Bureau estimates that 5,433 of the 28,040 children aged 5 to 17 living within the district's boundaries in 2024, 19.4%, were in families in poverty (Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates). It is a model-based estimate for everyone living in the district, not a count of its students; the free-meal shares in the school tables are counts of enrolled students.How much does Grand Rapids Public Schools spend on teacher salaries?
$49,787,000 in fiscal year 2022-23 (NCES F-33), or $3,611 per student. Divided by the 796 full-time teachers in the NCES Common Core of Data for 2022-23 that is $62,549 per teacher, more than 51 in 100 Michigan districts (state median $62,387). That is spending, not what a teacher is paid: the salary lines and the teacher count come from different files, and the result can differ widely from the average salary a district publishes. The district's salary schedule gives pay. For pay, the National Education Association put the average Michigan teacher salary at $65,198 in 2021-22 (NCES Digest table 211.60).How do students in Grand Rapids Public Schools do on state tests?
In 2021-22, the students tested in Grand Rapids Public Schools scored proficient or above: 27% in reading and 16% in math, against 44% in reading and 34% in math across Michigan. Michigan's own test sets what proficient means, so results compare within the state, not across states. Source: U.S. Department of Education, EDFacts state assessment results, 2021-22.What is the graduation rate in Grand Rapids Public Schools?
82% of the 829 students in Grand Rapids Public Schools' class of 2023 graduated within four years, against 81.8% across Michigan. The four-year rate follows the students who started ninth grade in fall 2019, adjusted for those who moved in or out. Source: U.S. Department of Education, EDFacts four-year adjusted-cohort graduation rates, 2022-23.What is Grand Rapids Public Schools' NCES district ID?
2616440. Each of its schools' 12-digit NCES IDs begins with these seven digits.
Reading these figures: how to choose a school district, what Title I means and what an absenteeism rate means. They are for information and are not a substitute for the school's or district's own records.
Sources
Every federal file behind this record
- NCES Common Core of Data, 2024-25: directory, membership, staff and lunch files. nces.ed.gov
- NCES Common Core of Data, 2021-22 school characteristics: Title I status. nces.ed.gov
- Civil Rights Data Collection, 2021-22: AP courses, gifted programs, counselors, discipline. civilrightsdata.ed.gov
- EDFacts, 2022-23: chronic absenteeism. ed.gov
- EDFacts four-year adjusted-cohort graduation rates, 2022-23: the class of 2023 for the district and its state (ED Data Express). eddataexpress.ed.gov
- EDFacts state assessment results, 2021-22: reading and math proficiency for the district and its state (ED Data Express). eddataexpress.ed.gov
- NCES Digest of Education Statistics, table 211.60 (2021-22): the state's average teacher salary, from the National Education Association. nces.ed.gov
- U.S. Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates, 2024: children aged 5 to 17 and those in families in poverty, by school district. census.gov
- U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Survey of School System Finances, fiscal year 2023-24: per pupil current spending for 2023-24 and 2022-23. census.gov
- NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, fiscal year 2022-23: district spending and revenue. nces.ed.gov
- U.S. Census Bureau geocoder and TIGER school districts: the district boundary used by the district finder. census.gov
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Survey of School System Finances Per pupil current spending by school system · FY 2023-24
Source: NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey Revenue and expenditures by district · FY 2022-23
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School directory, membership, staff and lunch files · 2024-25