Union High School

Summary:

Union High School is a public high school located in Grand Rapids, Michigan, serving 922 students in grades 9-12. The school is part of the Grand Rapids Public Schools district, which is ranked 471 out of 610 districts in Michigan and has a 1-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Union High School stands out from nearby schools like Grand Rapids Public Museum High and Grand Rapids University Preparatory Academy in several key ways. The school has a significantly higher percentage of minority students, with 33.51% African American and 51.84% Hispanic enrollment, compared to the surrounding schools. Academically, Union High School consistently performs below district and state averages on standardized tests, with only 8.9% of 11th-grade students proficient or better in M-Step/Science, compared to 27.8% for the district and 37.5% for the state. The school also has lower graduation rates and higher dropout rates than nearby schools.

Chronic absenteeism is a major concern at Union High School, with 62.2% of students chronically absent in the 2022-2023 school year, much higher than the 35.5% rate at Grand Rapids Public Museum High and the 51.4% rate at Grand Rapids University Preparatory Academy. Additionally, 88.18% of Union High School students receive free or reduced-price lunch, significantly higher than the nearby schools. These demographic and performance challenges suggest that Union High School may require targeted interventions and support to address the unique needs of its student population.


Detail:

Public 9-12

 1800 Tremont Blvd NW
       Grand Rapids, MI  49504-4868


(616) 819-3160

District: Grand Rapids Public Schools

SchoolDigger Rank:
639th of 743 Michigan High Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures:  $16,909 Help


Student/teacher ratio:  17.8 Help
Number of students:  939

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:
49.7%
African American:
33.9%
White:
8.2%
more

Free/discounted lunch recipients:  93.7% Help


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Performance Trends
Help
Compare Details Union High School ranks worse than 86% of high schools in Michigan. It also ranks 7th among 9 ranked high schools in the Grand Rapids Public Schools District. (See more...)
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Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 13.92. (See more...)
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The four-year cohort graduation rate measures the percentage of students at Union High School who earn a standard high school diploma within four years of starting ninth grade.
Help
The high school dropout rate measures the percentage of students who do not complete their high school education.
Help
Chronic absenteeism in a school refers to a situation where students repeatedly miss school, with the threshold often defined as missing 10% or more of school days for any reason, excused or unexcused.
Student Body
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Compare Details Union High School has the largest high school student body size in the Grand Rapids Public Schools District. Racial makeup is: Hispanic (49.7%), African American (33.9%), White (8.2%). (See more...)
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Compare Details 93.7% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. This is the highest percentage in the Grand Rapids Public Schools District. (See more...)
Teachers
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Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Union High School is 17.8. 8 high schools in the Grand Rapids Public Schools District have better student/teacher ratios. (See more...)
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Compare Union High School employs 52.7 full-time teachers.
Finance
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Compare Details The average total spent per student at Union High School is $16,909. 7 high schools in the Grand Rapids Public Schools District spend more per student.
Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Union High School:

SchoolDigger ranks Union High School 639th of 743 Michigan public high schools. (See Union High School in the ranking list.)

High School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:


English Language Learner students:
Low Socio Economic Status students:
Female students:
Male students:
African American students:
Hispanic students:


Grand Rapids Public Schools:

SchoolDigger ranks Grand Rapids Public Schools 471st of 610 Michigan school districts. (See district ranking list.)

Average Parent Rating:

Read all reviews and ratings detail for Union High School.

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Rank History for Union High School

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Compare

Rank History for all students at Union High School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools MI State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2006 30.36 548th 705 22.3%
2007 37.01 542nd 767 29.3%
2008 28.00 573rd 750 23.6%
2009 29.33 566th 754 24.9%
2010 19.63 607th 765 20.7%
2011 11.95 677th 784 13.6%
2012 15.01 633rd 773 18.1%
2013 13.55 672nd 805 16.5%
2014 11.57 679th 799 15.0%
2015 34.62 550th 832 33.9%
2016 12.92 690th 852 19.0%
2017 12.11 643rd 835 23.0%
2018 14.69 653rd 824 20.8%
2019 11.57 581st 666 12.8%
2022 9.94 514th 531 3.2%
2023 11.23 661st 735 10.1%
2024 13.92 639th 743 14.0%
See the entire list of Michigan High School Rankings!

Rank History for English Language Learner students at Union High School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools MI State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 22.49 88th 102 13.7%
2023 23.34 28th 35 20.0%
2024 38.18 21st 43 51.2%
See the entire list of Best Michigan High Schools for English Language Learner Students!

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Union High School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools MI State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 17.40 595th 755 21.2%
2019 17.19 456th 532 14.3%
2023 12.38 556th 614 9.4%
2024 18.24 555th 654 15.1%
See the entire list of Best Michigan High Schools for Low Socio Economic Status Students!

Rank History for Female students at Union High School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools MI State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 11.72 591st 710 16.8%
2019 6.51 519th 554 6.3%
2023 6.74 578th 611 5.4%
2024 7.76 576th 619 6.9%
See the entire list of Best Michigan High Schools for Female Students!

Rank History for Male students at Union High School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools MI State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 11.25 597th 707 15.6%
2019 10.07 500th 543 7.9%
2022 10.34 422nd 440 4.1%
2023 10.64 559th 611 8.5%
2024 14.59 559th 633 11.7%
See the entire list of Best Michigan High Schools for Male Students!

Rank History for African American students at Union High School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools MI State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 18.74 211th 254 16.9%
2019 18.24 121st 147 17.7%
2023 28.26 116th 170 31.8%
2024 31.10 128th 188 31.9%
See the entire list of Best Michigan High Schools for African American Students!

Rank History for Hispanic students at Union High School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools MI State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 15.97 170th 201 15.4%
2019 10.83 91st 97 6.2%
2023 9.03 180th 190 5.3%
2024 11.81 182nd 195 6.7%
See the entire list of Best Michigan High Schools for Hispanic Students!

Rank History for White students at Union High School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools MI State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 45.73 381st 708 46.2%
2019 56.91 246th 582 57.7%
2023 33.83 426th 647 34.2%
See the entire list of Best Michigan High Schools for White Students!

Data source: test scores: Michigan Department of Education, rankings: SchoolDigger.com

As you review the school rankings data, please be aware that some of the information from certain demographics is missing. The reason for this omission is that the data has been redacted from the source data itself due to low population samples in these specific demographic groups.

Redacting data from low population samples is a necessary step to ensure the reliability and accuracy of the results, as small sample sizes may not be representative of the broader population. Additionally, this measure helps protect the privacy of individuals belonging to these demographic groups.

Union High School Test Scores
Tests: 
  
Grades: 
  
Years: 
  
Group by: 
District Scores:
State Scores:    
  
Subgroup: 



Data source: Michigan Department of Education

Review counts

All ratings (Avg rating: 5)
100%

0%

0%

0%

0%

  

Reviews:
by a citizen
Friday, October 6, 2017

Open Quote This school is great for a diverse group of people. Close Quote


by a parent
Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Open Quote Union is a great learning community. Gem in GRPS. Do not believe the stats Close Quote



Enrollment information for Union High School

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Year White African American Asian Hispanic American Indian Pacific Islander Two or More Races Not Specified Total
1988 753 265 89 123 16 n/a n/a -5 1241
1989 757 256 90 139 9 n/a n/a 0 1251
1990 717 217 108 165 14 n/a n/a -1 1220
1991 726 208 115 231 15 n/a n/a 6 1301
1992 772 185 114 240 17 n/a n/a 0 1328
1993 794 219 134 244 18 n/a n/a 0 1409
1995 1002 269 62 278 19 n/a n/a 0 1630
1996 1002 269 62 278 19 n/a n/a 0 1630
1997 910 241 34 294 15 n/a n/a 0 1494
1998 846 249 25 235 21 n/a n/a 0 1376
1999 851 253 27 279 24 n/a n/a 0 1434
2000 800 276 35 277 26 n/a n/a 0 1414
2001 794 257 41 329 27 n/a n/a 0 1448
2002 682 245 33 587 28 n/a n/a 0 1575
2003 682 245 33 587 28 n/a n/a 0 1575
2004 643 188 22 467 20 n/a n/a 0 1340
2005 576 171 14 417 12 n/a n/a 46 1236
2006 517 200 14 434 14 n/a n/a 66 1245
2007 435 222 7 425 10 n/a n/a 64 1163
2008 345 216 6 384 9 n/a n/a 83 1043
2009 285 203 1 325 10 n/a n/a 81 905
2010 264 243 11 332 6 n/a n/a 204 1060
2011 248 261 22 581 13 1 76 0 1202
2012 155 202 13 476 15 1 71 0 933
2013 147 207 6 484 15 2 71 0 932
2014 171 320 12 490 13 2 78 0 1086
2015 163 303 17 516 8 2 90 0 1099
2016 144 329 10 483 7 2 75 0 1050
2017 119 360 14 440 12 1 71 0 1017
2018 119 328 17 450 4 0 65 0 983
2019 117 301 11 453 3 1 63 0 949
2020 102 296 13 471 5 1 63 0 951
2021 94 314 9 485 5 1 56 0 964
2022 89 321 8 476 4 0 54 0 952
2023 65 309 18 478 4 0 48 0 922
2024 77 318 9 467 2 0 66 0 939

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Enrollment/Ethnicity

For more information about how the Department of Education defines ethnicity, see Defining Race and Ethnicity Data, National Center for Education Statistics

Students eligible for free or discounted lunch at Union High School

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1988 1241 n/a n/a n/a
1989 1251 n/a n/a 26.6
1990 1220 72.0 16.9 31.3
1991 1301 n/a n/a n/a
1992 1328 n/a n/a 31.2
1993 1409 n/a 0.0 43.3
1995 1630 65.0 25.1 41.3
1996 1630 65.0 25.1 41.3
1997 1494 67.0 22.3 36.7
1998 1376 65.0 21.2 40
1999 1434 64.0 22.4 40.7
2000 1414 66.4 21.3 47.2
2001 1448 51.6 28.1 51.2
2002 1575 69.4 22.7 61.7
2003 1575 69.4 22.7 61.7
2004 1340 72.0 18.6 59.4
2005 1236 69.8 17.7 69.8
2006 1245 62.9 19.8 79.1
2007 1163 64.3 18.1 85.3
2008 1043 61.0 17.1 84.8
2009 905 52.0 17.4 89.8
2010 1060 45.5 23.3 106.9
2011 1202 47.1 25.4 82.4
2012 933 61.5 15.1 85
2013 932 60.0 15.5 86.5
2014 1086 57.9 18.7 87.4
2015 1099 61.0 18.0 82
2016 1050 58.0 18.1 78.3
2017 1017 60.4 16.8 85.2
2018 983 61.5 15.9 85.4
2019 949 56.1 16.9 83.2
2020 951 52.1 18.2 83.7
2021 964 51.8 18.6 92
2022 952 53.0 17.9 91.6
2023 922 45.8 20.1 88.2
2024 939 52.7 17.8 93.7

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Students eligible for discounted/free lunch:

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) provides low-cost or free meals to students in U.S. public and nonprofit private schools based on household income. Those with incomes below 130% of the poverty line receive free lunch, while those between 130% and 185% qualify for reduced-price lunch. The percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch serves as a marker for poverty, as it reflects the socioeconomic status of families in a given school or district. A higher FRPL rate typically indicates a higher concentration of low-income families, suggesting that the school or district may face additional challenges in providing adequate resources and support for student success.

Student/Teacher Ratio Union High School

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1988 1241 n/a n/a n/a
1989 1251 n/a n/a 26.6
1990 1220 72.0 16.9 31.3
1991 1301 n/a n/a n/a
1992 1328 n/a n/a 31.2
1993 1409 n/a 0.0 43.3
1995 1630 65.0 25.1 41.3
1996 1630 65.0 25.1 41.3
1997 1494 67.0 22.3 36.7
1998 1376 65.0 21.2 40
1999 1434 64.0 22.4 40.7
2000 1414 66.4 21.3 47.2
2001 1448 51.6 28.1 51.2
2002 1575 69.4 22.7 61.7
2003 1575 69.4 22.7 61.7
2004 1340 72.0 18.6 59.4
2005 1236 69.8 17.7 69.8
2006 1245 62.9 19.8 79.1
2007 1163 64.3 18.1 85.3
2008 1043 61.0 17.1 84.8
2009 905 52.0 17.4 89.8
2010 1060 45.5 23.3 106.9
2011 1202 47.1 25.4 82.4
2012 933 61.5 15.1 85
2013 932 60.0 15.5 86.5
2014 1086 57.9 18.7 87.4
2015 1099 61.0 18.0 82
2016 1050 58.0 18.1 78.3
2017 1017 60.4 16.8 85.2
2018 983 61.5 15.9 85.4
2019 949 56.1 16.9 83.2
2020 951 52.1 18.2 83.7
2021 964 51.8 18.6 92
2022 952 53.0 17.9 91.6
2023 922 45.8 20.1 88.2
2024 939 52.7 17.8 93.7

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Student-Teacher Ratio

Student/teacher ratio is calculated by dividing the total number of students by the total number of full-time equivalent teachers. Please note that a smaller student/teacher ratio does not necessarily translate to smaller class size. In some instances, schools hire teachers part time, and some teachers are hired for specialized instruction with very small class sizes. These and other factors contribute to the student/teacher ratio. Note: For private schools, Student/teacher ratio may not include Pre-Kindergarten.
Finances

Per Pupil Expenditures for Union High School

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YearExpenditures from Federal FundsExpenditures from State and Local FundsTotal Expenditures Per Pupil (All Funds)
2019 $2,185 (15.1%) $12,273 (84.9%) $14,458
2020 $1,987 (13.8%) $12,446 (86.2%) $14,434
2021 $2,429 (16.2%) $12,547 (83.8%) $14,976
2022 $4,014 (24.7%) $12,242 (75.3%) $16,256
2023 $3,965 (23.4%) $12,944 (76.6%) $16,909

Data source: Michigan Department of Education
Pre and Post Pandemic Data

Impact of COVID-19 on Union High School

The coronavirus has had a profound impact on education in America. Learning shifted online overnight, attendance numbers dwindled, and enrollment decreased. SchoolDigger.com is making it easier for you to better assess how COVID-19 has impacted your school. Through the collection of pre-pandemic (2019) and current data, SchoolDigger.com is sharing test scores, enrollment numbers and school demographics from schools across the country – and we make it easy to see how impacted schools compare locally and statewide.

Rankings

Rank
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
Rank
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
Ranks 581st of 666 High schoolsRanks 661st of 735 High schools
 2.7%

Test Scores

% proficient
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
% proficient
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
11th Grade Social Studies (Union High School)2514.5
 10.5%
   11th Grade Social Studies (Grand Rapids Public Schools)3229.6
 2.4%
   11th Grade Social Studies (Michigan)46.636.1
 10.5%
11th Grade Evidence-Based Reading and Writing (Union High School)31.930.3
 1.6%
   11th Grade Evidence-Based Reading and Writing (Grand Rapids Public Schools)38.942
 3.1%
   11th Grade Evidence-Based Reading and Writing (Michigan)55.352.2
 3.1%
11th Grade Mathematics (Union High School)10.68.3
 2.3%
   11th Grade Mathematics (Grand Rapids Public Schools)22.920.8
 2.1%
   11th Grade Mathematics (Michigan)36.329.9
 6.4%

Student Body

Number of students
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
Number of students
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
Total Students949922
 2.8%
African American301309
 2.7%
American Indian34
 33.3%
Asian1118
 63.6%
Hispanic453478
 5.5%
Pacific Islander10
 100%
White11765
 44.4%
Two or More Races6348
 23.8%
% Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients83.2%88.2%
 4.9%


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Frequently Asked Questions about Union High School

Union High School ranks in the bottom 14.0% of Michigan high schools.

Students at Union High School are 50% Hispanic, 34% African American, 8% White, 7% Two or more races.

In the 2023-24 school year, 939 students attended Union High School.


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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.





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