Ionia Middle School

Summary:

Ionia Middle School is a public middle school serving 664 students in grades 6-8 in Ionia, Michigan. The school is part of the Belding Area School District, which is ranked 402 out of 610 districts in the state and has a 2-star rating from SchoolDigger.

While Ionia Middle School's test scores are generally on par with the district, they tend to lag behind state averages across various subjects and grade levels. For example, in 2023-2024, the school's proficiency rates in English Language Arts (40.5-41.6%) and Math (28.6-29.9%) were lower than the state averages (37.5-37.9% and 31-32.1%, respectively). Additionally, the school's rankings for specific student subgroups, such as Hispanic, White, and multi-racial students, tend to be in the middle to lower range compared to other Michigan middle schools, suggesting potential achievement gaps. The school's ranking for special education students has been particularly low, ranging from 69th out of 76 Michigan middle schools in 2018-2019 to 133rd out of 199 in 2022-2023, indicating a need for improvement in supporting this student population.

One of the most significant concerns at Ionia Middle School is its high chronic absenteeism rate, which ranges from 39.6% to 46.0% in recent years, notably higher than the 21.4% to 31.7% range seen at the nearby Greenville Middle School, Lowell Middle School, and other middle schools in the area. Addressing the root causes of this issue, such as socioeconomic factors or school climate, should be a priority for the school and district.


Detail:

Public 6-8

 438 Union St
       Ionia, MI  48846-1255


(616) 527-0040

District: Ionia Public Schools

SchoolDigger Rank:
352nd of 897 Michigan Middle Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures:  $12,514 Help


Students who attend Ionia Middle School usually attend:

High:    Ionia High School

Feeder schools for Ionia Middle School:

Elementary:    AA Rather School
    Emerson School
    Jefferson School
    RB Boyce Elementary School
    More...

Student/teacher ratio:  16.2 Help
Number of students:  664

Racial breakdown:

White:
80.9%
Hispanic:
13.4%
Two or more races:
4.2%
more

Free/discounted lunch recipients:  61% Help


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Performance Trends
Help
Compare Details Ionia Middle School ranks better than 60.8% of middle schools in Michigan. (See more...)
Help
Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 53.86. (See more...)
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 Racial makeup is: White (80.9%), Hispanic (13.4%), two or more races (4.2%). (See more...)
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Compare Details 61% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)
Teachers
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Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Ionia Middle School is 16.2. (See more...)
Help
Compare Ionia Middle School employs 40.9 full-time teachers.
Finance
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Compare Details The average total spent per student at Ionia Middle School is $12,514.
Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Ionia Middle School:

SchoolDigger ranks Ionia Middle School 352nd of 897 Michigan public middle schools. (See Ionia Middle School in the ranking list.)

Middle School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:


Multi-racial students:
Low Socio Economic Status students:
Female students:
Male students:
Hispanic students:
White students:


Ionia Public Schools:

SchoolDigger ranks Ionia Public Schools 402nd of 610 Michigan school districts. (See district ranking list.)


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Rank History for Ionia Middle School

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Rank History for all students at Ionia Middle School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools MI State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2006 72.29 224th 806 72.2%
2007 61.25 402nd 823 51.2%
2008 58.03 466th 839 44.5%
2009 57.59 483rd 847 43.0%
2010 53.43 534th 851 37.3%
2011 57.69 461st 858 46.3%
2012 53.07 436th 900 51.6%
2013 43.09 558th 919 39.3%
2014 50.78 478th 921 48.1%
2015 70.00 226th 919 75.4%
2016 58.38 344th 894 61.5%
2017 62.65 252nd 821 69.3%
2018 65.67 280th 838 66.6%
2019 54.79 317th 792 60.0%
2021 33.28 447th 675 33.8%
2022 47.04 378th 776 51.3%
2023 47.66 420th 883 52.4%
2024 53.86 352nd 897 60.8%
See the entire list of Michigan Middle School Rankings!

Rank History for Multi-racial students at Ionia Middle School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools MI State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2023 30.77 114th 163 30.1%
2024 37.05 108th 176 38.6%
See the entire list of Best Michigan Middle Schools for Multi-racial Students!

Rank History for Special Education students at Ionia Middle School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools MI State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 29.17 292nd 377 22.5%
2019 16.54 69th 76 9.2%
2023 35.16 133rd 199 33.2%
See the entire list of Best Michigan Middle Schools for Special Education Students!

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Ionia Middle School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools MI State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 70.18 178th 815 78.2%
2019 66.18 160th 672 76.2%
2021 38.13 331st 523 36.7%
2022 52.14 290th 691 58.0%
2023 54.94 313th 825 62.1%
2024 61.82 247th 836 70.5%
See the entire list of Best Michigan Middle Schools for Low Socio Economic Status Students!

Rank History for Female students at Ionia Middle School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools MI State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 65.33 249th 794 68.6%
2019 51.69 296th 658 55.0%
2021 31.16 377th 521 27.6%
2022 41.28 357th 657 45.7%
2023 43.68 404th 770 47.5%
2024 45.61 386th 771 49.9%
See the entire list of Best Michigan Middle Schools for Female Students!

Rank History for Male students at Ionia Middle School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools MI State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 62.14 274th 797 65.6%
2019 48.88 293rd 639 54.1%
2021 26.99 405th 540 25.0%
2022 43.15 347th 658 47.3%
2023 42.37 428th 776 44.8%
2024 52.65 321st 786 59.2%
See the entire list of Best Michigan Middle Schools for Male Students!

Rank History for Hispanic students at Ionia Middle School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools MI State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 72.35 55th 266 79.3%
2019 58.02 49th 137 64.2%
2021 31.25 52nd 69 24.6%
2022 44.79 72nd 138 47.8%
2023 45.07 131st 246 46.7%
2024 50.36 121st 257 52.9%
See the entire list of Best Michigan Middle Schools for Hispanic Students!

Rank History for White students at Ionia Middle School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools MI State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 51.59 312th 678 54.0%
2019 44.75 325th 624 47.9%
2021 29.29 412th 577 28.6%
2022 38.12 381st 638 40.3%
2023 34.76 447th 688 35.0%
2024 40.04 394th 701 43.8%
See the entire list of Best Michigan Middle 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.

Ionia Middle School Test Scores
Tests: 
  
Grades: 
  
Years: 
  
Group by: 
District Scores:
State Scores:    
  
Subgroup: 





Data source: Michigan Department of Education

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Enrollment information for Ionia Middle School

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Year White African American Asian Hispanic American Indian Pacific Islander Two or More Races Not Specified Total
1988 435 5 5 18 0 n/a n/a 0 463
1989 440 3 6 11 0 n/a n/a 0 460
1990 866 6 6 22 0 n/a n/a 0 900
1991 847 9 3 32 1 n/a n/a 84 976
1992 998 6 3 35 0 n/a n/a 0 1042
1993 1030 9 5 46 0 n/a n/a 0 1090
1994 1045 5 3 41 1 n/a n/a 0 1095
1995 1059 9 2 33 0 n/a n/a 0 1103
1996 1059 9 2 33 0 n/a n/a 0 1103
1997 801 9 3 27 1 n/a n/a -7 834
1998 805 5 4 20 1 n/a n/a 0 835
1999 801 5 5 21 2 n/a n/a 0 834
2000 743 19 5 28 4 n/a n/a 0 799
2001 741 5 5 33 2 n/a n/a 0 786
2002 746 8 5 26 1 n/a n/a 0 786
2003 746 8 5 26 1 n/a n/a 0 786
2004 703 19 10 31 2 n/a n/a 2 767
2005 709 14 8 35 4 n/a n/a 4 774
2006 699 14 4 37 6 n/a n/a 6 766
2007 669 6 4 21 5 n/a n/a 16 721
2008 659 6 3 26 3 n/a n/a 7 704
2009 627 4 3 34 0 n/a n/a 17 685
2010 605 4 1 35 6 n/a n/a 28 679
2011 609 4 1 51 5 0 12 0 682
2012 602 3 8 44 5 0 0 0 662
2013 584 4 7 63 1 0 14 0 673
2014 583 2 7 73 0 0 9 0 674
2015 603 3 0 86 3 0 11 0 706
2016 614 3 0 82 3 0 10 0 712
2017 591 3 0 79 1 1 15 0 690
2018 609 2 1 78 1 0 16 0 707
2019 568 5 0 85 0 0 17 0 675
2020 569 8 0 87 0 0 19 0 683
2021 555 9 1 84 0 0 22 0 671
2022 543 5 1 92 0 0 24 0 665
2023 537 7 2 89 1 0 28 0 664

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 Ionia Middle School

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1988 463 n/a n/a n/a
1989 460 n/a n/a 22.6
1990 900 50.0 18.0 15.2
1991 976 n/a n/a n/a
1992 1042 n/a n/a 20.2
1993 1090 n/a 0.0 38.3
1994 1095 53.4 20.5 28.9
1995 1103 56.8 19.4 27.8
1996 1103 56.8 19.4 27.8
1997 834 47.0 17.7 24
1998 835 46.0 18.2 24.7
1999 834 49.0 17.0 23.3
2000 799 48.6 16.4 35
2001 786 48.6 16.2 36.5
2002 786 47.5 16.5 41.5
2003 786 47.5 16.5 41.5
2004 767 50.5 15.2 43.3
2005 774 49.0 15.8 42.5
2006 766 48.0 16.0 44.5
2007 721 45.7 15.8 42.8
2008 704 43.5 16.2 45.6
2009 685 44.6 15.4 49.1
2010 679 40.1 16.9 56.4
2011 682 37.8 18.0 57.2
2012 662 38.5 17.1 60
2013 673 38.3 17.5 64.3
2014 674 38.5 17.4 55.6
2015 706 41.0 17.2 54.7
2016 712 41.0 17.3 55.6
2017 690 41.2 16.7 48.4
2018 707 39.7 17.7 54.5
2019 675 39.5 17.0 55.3
2020 683 39.0 17.5 68.7
2021 671 38.3 17.4 52.8
2022 665 36.1 18.3 59.5
2023 664 40.9 16.2 61

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 Ionia Middle School

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1988 463 n/a n/a n/a
1989 460 n/a n/a 22.6
1990 900 50.0 18.0 15.2
1991 976 n/a n/a n/a
1992 1042 n/a n/a 20.2
1993 1090 n/a 0.0 38.3
1994 1095 53.4 20.5 28.9
1995 1103 56.8 19.4 27.8
1996 1103 56.8 19.4 27.8
1997 834 47.0 17.7 24
1998 835 46.0 18.2 24.7
1999 834 49.0 17.0 23.3
2000 799 48.6 16.4 35
2001 786 48.6 16.2 36.5
2002 786 47.5 16.5 41.5
2003 786 47.5 16.5 41.5
2004 767 50.5 15.2 43.3
2005 774 49.0 15.8 42.5
2006 766 48.0 16.0 44.5
2007 721 45.7 15.8 42.8
2008 704 43.5 16.2 45.6
2009 685 44.6 15.4 49.1
2010 679 40.1 16.9 56.4
2011 682 37.8 18.0 57.2
2012 662 38.5 17.1 60
2013 673 38.3 17.5 64.3
2014 674 38.5 17.4 55.6
2015 706 41.0 17.2 54.7
2016 712 41.0 17.3 55.6
2017 690 41.2 16.7 48.4
2018 707 39.7 17.7 54.5
2019 675 39.5 17.0 55.3
2020 683 39.0 17.5 68.7
2021 671 38.3 17.4 52.8
2022 665 36.1 18.3 59.5
2023 664 40.9 16.2 61

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 Ionia Middle School

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YearExpenditures from Federal FundsExpenditures from State and Local FundsTotal Expenditures Per Pupil (All Funds)
2019 $803 (7.8%) $9,454 (92.2%) $10,257
2020 $1,007 (9.6%) $9,510 (90.4%) $10,518
2021 $1,552 (14.2%) $9,354 (85.8%) $10,906
2022 $1,612 (13.9%) $9,980 (86.1%) $11,592
2023 $1,316 (10.5%) $11,198 (89.5%) $12,514

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

Impact of COVID-19 on Ionia Middle 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 317th of 792 Middle schoolsRanks 420th of 883 Middle schools
 7.5%

Test Scores

% proficient
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
% proficient
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
6th Grade English Language Arts (Ionia Middle School)56.440
 16.4%
   6th Grade English Language Arts (Ionia Public Schools)55.940
 15.9%
   6th Grade English Language Arts (Michigan)41.737.5
 4.2%
6th Grade Math (Ionia Middle School)41.723.6
 18.1%
   6th Grade Math (Ionia Public Schools)41.423.6
 17.8%
   6th Grade Math (Michigan)35.129.6
 5.5%
7th Grade English Language Arts (Ionia Middle School)35.625.9
 9.7%
   7th Grade English Language Arts (Ionia Public Schools)35.525.9
 9.6%
   7th Grade English Language Arts (Michigan)42.736.9
 5.8%
7th Grade Math (Ionia Middle School)34.721.7
 13%
   7th Grade Math (Ionia Public Schools)34.521.7
 12.8%
   7th Grade Math (Michigan)35.731
 4.7%
8th Grade Social Studies (Ionia Middle School)24.430.7
 6.3%
   8th Grade Social Studies (Ionia Public Schools)24.330.7
 6.4%
   8th Grade Social Studies (Michigan)2826.7
 1.3%
8th Grade English Language Arts (Ionia Middle School)6054.2
 5.8%
   8th Grade English Language Arts (Ionia Public Schools)59.754.2
 5.5%
   8th Grade English Language Arts (Michigan)61.959.7
 2.2%
8th Grade Mathematics (Ionia Middle School)42.740.3
 2.4%
   8th Grade Mathematics (Ionia Public Schools)42.540.3
 2.2%
   8th Grade Mathematics (Michigan)41.436.3
 5.1%

Student Body

Number of students
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
Number of students
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
Total Students675664
 1.6%
African American57
 40%
American Indian01
Asian02
Hispanic8589
 4.7%
Pacific Islander00
White568537
 5.5%
Two or More Races1728
 64.7%
% Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients55.3%61%
 5.7%


Schools Near Ionia Middle School









Frequently Asked Questions about Ionia Middle School

In the 2022-23 school year, 664 students attended Ionia Middle School.

Students at Ionia Middle School are 81% White, 13% Hispanic, 4% Two or more races, 1% African American.

Students who attend Ionia Middle School usually go on to attend Ionia High School

Ionia Middle School ranks 352nd of 897 Michigan middle schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 3 stars out of 5.


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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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