Willow Ridge Elementary School

Summary:

Willow Ridge Elementary School is a public elementary school in Grand Ledge, Michigan, serving 494 students from kindergarten to 4th grade as part of the Grand Ledge Public Schools district.

Willow Ridge Elementary consistently outperforms state and district averages in academic assessments, with 70% of 3rd-graders and 65.5% of 4th-graders proficient or better in English Language Arts, compared to state averages of 39.6% and 43.3%. In math, 71.1% of 3rd-graders and 59.1% of 4th-graders were proficient, compared to state averages of 43.4% and 39.1%. The school's performance has improved from ranking 485 out of 1,548 Michigan elementary schools in 2015-2016 to 137 out of 1,486 in 2023-2024. Willow Ridge's exceptional performance extends across student subgroups, including female, male, White, and low-income students.

While Willow Ridge outperforms nearby schools like Wacousta Elementary, TC Holbrook Elementary, and Delta Center Elementary, the school has seen a concerning increase in chronic absenteeism, rising from 6.9% in 2018-2019 to 22.7% in 2022-2023. Additionally, the school's predominantly White student population may benefit from further diversification and ensuring equitable opportunities for all racial and ethnic groups.


Detail:

Public K-4

 12840 Nixon Rd
       Grand Ledge, MI  48837-9412


(517) 925-5775

District: Grand Ledge Public Schools

SchoolDigger Rank:
137th of 1,486 Michigan Elementary Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures:  $12,724 Help


Students who attend Willow Ridge Elementary School usually attend:

Middle:    Kenneth T Beagle Middle School
High:    Grand Ledge High School

Student/teacher ratio:  18.0 Help
Number of students:  534

Racial breakdown:

White:
71.9%
Hispanic:
10.5%
Two or more races:
8.8%
more

Free/discounted lunch recipients:  34.5% Help


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Performance Trends
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Compare Details Willow Ridge Elementary School ranks better than 90.8% of elementary schools in Michigan. It also ranks first among 4 ranked elementary schools in the Grand Ledge Public Schools District! (See more...)
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Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 88.77. (See more...)
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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 Willow Ridge Elementary School has the largest elementary school student body size in the Grand Ledge Public Schools District. Racial makeup is: White (71.9%), Hispanic (10.5%), two or more races (8.8%). (See more...)
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Compare Details 34.5% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)
Teachers
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Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Willow Ridge Elementary School is 18. 2 elementary schools in the Grand Ledge Public Schools District have better student/teacher ratios. (See more...)
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Compare Willow Ridge Elementary School employs 29.5 full-time teachers.
Finance
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Compare Details The average total spent per student at Willow Ridge Elementary School is $12,724, which is the lowest among 4 elementary schools in the Grand Ledge Public Schools District!
Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Willow Ridge Elementary School:

SchoolDigger ranks Willow Ridge Elementary School 137th of 1486 Michigan public elementary schools. (See Willow Ridge Elementary School in the ranking list.)

Elementary School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:


Special Education students:
Low Socio Economic Status students:
Female students:
Male students:
White students:


Grand Ledge Public Schools:

SchoolDigger ranks Grand Ledge Public Schools 121st of 610 Michigan school districts. (See district ranking list.)


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Your rating for Willow Ridge Elementary School?

Rank History for Willow Ridge Elementary School

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Rank History for all students at Willow Ridge Elementary School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools MI State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2006 61.80 675th 1545 56.3%
2007 70.29 443rd 1565 71.7%
2008 70.83 469th 1577 70.3%
2009 70.33 499th 1589 68.6%
2010 71.08 481st 1552 69.0%
2011 68.39 525th 1552 66.2%
2012 50.20 832nd 1566 46.9%
2013 58.46 674th 1563 56.9%
2014 65.75 509th 1533 66.8%
2015 59.20 641st 1580 59.4%
2016 65.96 485th 1548 68.7%
2017 73.86 297th 1466 79.7%
2018 83.07 217th 1448 85.0%
2019 83.53 173rd 1408 87.7%
2021 65.58 322nd 1153 72.1%
2022 76.13 263rd 1344 80.4%
2023 83.93 194th 1470 86.8%
2024 88.77 137th 1486 90.8%
See the entire list of Michigan Elementary School Rankings!

Rank History for Multi-racial students at Willow Ridge Elementary School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools MI State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2023 47.85 33rd 81 59.3%
See the entire list of Best Michigan Elementary Schools for Multi-racial Students!

Rank History for Special Education students at Willow Ridge Elementary School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools MI State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 90.56 14th 403 96.5%
2024 39.56 141st 225 37.3%
See the entire list of Best Michigan Elementary Schools for Special Education Students!

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Willow Ridge Elementary School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools MI State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 80.67 166th 1397 88.1%
2019 85.90 67th 1134 94.1%
2022 83.17 82nd 1099 92.5%
2023 89.23 60th 1350 95.6%
2024 89.74 57th 1381 95.9%
See the entire list of Best Michigan Elementary Schools for Low Socio Economic Status Students!

Rank History for Female students at Willow Ridge Elementary School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools MI State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 75.66 311th 1443 78.4%
2019 76.87 195th 1171 83.3%
2021 47.09 447th 902 50.4%
2022 76.90 189th 1106 82.9%
2023 84.76 138th 1321 89.6%
2024 87.19 113th 1342 91.6%
See the entire list of Best Michigan Elementary Schools for Female Students!

Rank History for Male students at Willow Ridge Elementary School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools MI State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 85.83 159th 1446 89.0%
2019 84.55 120th 1196 90.0%
2021 72.16 203rd 915 77.8%
2022 68.51 312th 1139 72.6%
2023 78.18 243rd 1334 81.8%
2024 84.65 160th 1347 88.1%
See the entire list of Best Michigan Elementary Schools for Male Students!

Rank History for African American students at Willow Ridge Elementary School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools MI State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 44.31 239th 475 49.7%
See the entire list of Best Michigan Elementary Schools for African American Students!

Rank History for Hispanic students at Willow Ridge Elementary School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools MI State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2023 80.60 19th 188 89.9%
See the entire list of Best Michigan Elementary Schools for Hispanic Students!

Rank History for White students at Willow Ridge Elementary School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools MI State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 82.21 166th 1253 86.8%
2019 81.45 158th 1128 86.0%
2021 61.67 331st 1005 67.1%
2022 74.98 233rd 1102 78.9%
2023 83.06 154th 1198 87.1%
2024 86.18 119th 1204 90.1%
See the entire list of Best Michigan Elementary 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.

Willow Ridge Elementary 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: 1)
0%

0%

0%

0%

100%

  

Reviews:
by a parent
Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Open Quote Communication between parents and teacher very poor. If your child needs extra help, good luck getting it. Principal Dr. Johnson is not approachable at all. We have tried requesting meetings, be proactive, and have open communication with the teachers and principal. Not a good response at all! Now in 5th grade... I give up! Cant wait for 6th grade to be over... and out of Willow Ridge. Close Quote



Enrollment information for Willow Ridge Elementary School

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Compare
Year White African American Asian Hispanic American Indian Pacific Islander Two or More Races Not Specified Total
1997 468 23 8 10 0 n/a n/a 0 509
1998 472 19 13 10 2 n/a n/a 0 516
1999 456 20 10 14 0 n/a n/a 0 500
2000 440 21 8 16 1 n/a n/a 20 506
2001 414 25 11 30 1 n/a n/a 0 481
2002 438 33 15 9 3 n/a n/a 0 498
2003 438 33 15 9 3 n/a n/a 0 498
2004 414 34 12 9 4 n/a n/a 0 473
2005 429 33 11 17 4 n/a n/a 1 495
2006 402 42 12 20 3 n/a n/a 0 479
2007 404 36 17 21 2 n/a n/a 0 480
2008 407 33 23 25 4 n/a n/a 0 492
2009 405 36 29 26 3 n/a n/a 0 499
2010 393 33 36 21 6 n/a n/a 0 489
2011 409 47 34 22 3 5 2 0 522
2012 409 44 28 18 3 6 2 0 510
2013 395 47 35 12 4 7 7 0 507
2014 396 47 22 11 4 5 9 0 494
2015 404 57 21 15 5 4 14 0 520
2016 383 60 17 22 5 2 24 0 513
2017 360 50 18 31 4 0 30 0 493
2018 389 49 19 39 3 0 33 0 532
2019 401 42 18 39 1 0 31 0 532
2020 413 32 13 54 1 0 42 0 555
2021 404 24 14 55 0 0 51 0 548
2022 347 20 17 44 0 0 45 0 473
2023 370 16 10 49 0 0 49 0 494
2024 384 20 26 56 1 0 47 0 534

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 Willow Ridge Elementary School

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1997 509 22.0 23.1 0
1998 516 22.0 23.5 0
1999 500 22.0 22.7 0
2000 506 22.5 21.6 5.3
2001 481 24.0 20.0 6.4
2002 498 24.2 20.6 10.4
2003 498 24.2 20.6 10.4
2004 473 26.2 18.1 13.7
2005 495 26.4 18.8 n/a
2006 479 24.2 19.8 15.9
2007 480 23.8 20.2 0
2008 492 24.5 20.1 13.2
2009 499 24.8 20.1 18.6
2010 489 24.3 20.0 22.7
2011 522 27.0 19.3 23.2
2012 510 26.5 19.2 23.3
2013 507 26.6 19.0 25.2
2014 494 26.1 18.9 27.7
2015 520 26.0 20.0 29.4
2016 513 27.0 19.0 32.4
2017 493 25.8 19.1 25.6
2018 532 26.0 20.4 26.5
2019 532 28.0 19.0 25.4
2020 555 28.0 19.8 23.4
2021 548 29.2 18.7 25.5
2022 473 30.2 15.6 24.7
2023 494 29.7 16.6 27.7
2024 534 29.5 18.0 34.5

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 Willow Ridge Elementary School

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1997 509 22.0 23.1 0
1998 516 22.0 23.5 0
1999 500 22.0 22.7 0
2000 506 22.5 21.6 5.3
2001 481 24.0 20.0 6.4
2002 498 24.2 20.6 10.4
2003 498 24.2 20.6 10.4
2004 473 26.2 18.1 13.7
2005 495 26.4 18.8 n/a
2006 479 24.2 19.8 15.9
2007 480 23.8 20.2 0
2008 492 24.5 20.1 13.2
2009 499 24.8 20.1 18.6
2010 489 24.3 20.0 22.7
2011 522 27.0 19.3 23.2
2012 510 26.5 19.2 23.3
2013 507 26.6 19.0 25.2
2014 494 26.1 18.9 27.7
2015 520 26.0 20.0 29.4
2016 513 27.0 19.0 32.4
2017 493 25.8 19.1 25.6
2018 532 26.0 20.4 26.5
2019 532 28.0 19.0 25.4
2020 555 28.0 19.8 23.4
2021 548 29.2 18.7 25.5
2022 473 30.2 15.6 24.7
2023 494 29.7 16.6 27.7
2024 534 29.5 18.0 34.5

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 Willow Ridge Elementary School

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YearExpenditures from Federal FundsExpenditures from State and Local FundsTotal Expenditures Per Pupil (All Funds)
2019 $323 (3.7%) $8,509 (96.3%) $8,832
2020 $896 (10.4%) $7,712 (89.6%) $8,608
2021 $1,267 (13.2%) $8,316 (86.8%) $9,583
2022 $1,179 (9.0%) $11,885 (91.0%) $13,065
2023 $1,129 (8.9%) $11,595 (91.1%) $12,724

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

Impact of COVID-19 on Willow Ridge Elementary 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 173rd of 1408 Elementary schoolsRanks 194th of 1470 Elementary schools
 0.9%

Test Scores

% proficient
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
% proficient
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
3rd Grade English Language Arts (Willow Ridge Elementary School)62.559.4
 3.1%
   3rd Grade English Language Arts (Grand Ledge Public Schools)53.448.6
 4.8%
   3rd Grade English Language Arts (Michigan)45.140.9
 4.2%
3rd Grade Math (Willow Ridge Elementary School)63.854.5
 9.3%
   3rd Grade Math (Grand Ledge Public Schools)5950.5
 8.5%
   3rd Grade Math (Michigan)46.742.9
 3.8%
4th Grade English Language Arts (Willow Ridge Elementary School)61.271.2
 10%
   4th Grade English Language Arts (Grand Ledge Public Schools)52.252.7
 0.5%
   4th Grade English Language Arts (Michigan)45.844.3
 1.5%
4th Grade Math (Willow Ridge Elementary School)67.365.4
 1.9%
   4th Grade Math (Grand Ledge Public Schools)59.643.4
 16.2%
   4th Grade Math (Michigan)41.838.6
 3.2%

Student Body

Number of students
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
Number of students
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
Total Students532494
 7.1%
African American4216
 61.9%
American Indian10
 100%
Asian1810
 44.4%
Hispanic3949
 25.6%
Pacific Islander00
White401370
 7.7%
Two or More Races3149
 58.1%
% Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients25.4%27.7%
 2.4%


Schools Near Willow Ridge Elementary School









Frequently Asked Questions about Willow Ridge Elementary School

In the 2023-24 school year, 534 students attended Willow Ridge Elementary School.

Students who attend Willow Ridge Elementary School usually go on to attend:

Middle : Kenneth T Beagle Middle School
High : Grand Ledge High School

Students at Willow Ridge Elementary School are 72% White, 10% Hispanic, 9% Two or more races, 5% Asian, 4% African American.

Yes. Willow Ridge Elementary School ranks in the top 9.2% of Michigan elementary schools.


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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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