St. Joe-Benton Harbor News

There were 14,810 students enrolled in Van Buren County schools in the 2022-23 school year, 1% more than the previous year, according to the Michigan Department of Education.

Boys made up 51% of the county student body, while the other 49% were girls.

Data also showed that white students made up 68.3% of the student body, the biggest percentage in Van Buren County schools, followed by 20.7% of Hispanic students, 5.7% of multiracial students, 4.2% of African American students, 0.6% of Asian students, 0.5% of American Indian students and less than 0.1% of Hawaiian students.

Mattawan High School had the highest enrollment among Van Buren County's 45 schools in the 2022-23 school year, welcoming 1,171 students.

Overall student enrollment in Michigan remains below pre-pandemic levels, with white students experiencing the largest decline at 6.5%.

Academic performance has also suffered, with the state's average NAEP score dropping by 6.5 points and ethnic achievement gaps have widened. Black and Hispanic students' average math proficiency dropped by 7% in 2022, to 13.5% and 28.2%, respectively.

School name	Total enrollment in 2021-22	Total enrollment in 2022-23	% change
Mattawan High School	1,185	1,171	-1.2
Michigan Online School	840	926	10.2
Mattawan Middle School	794	817	2.9
Mattawan Later Elementary School	775	782	0.9
Mattawan Early Elementary School	753	744	-1.2
Paw Paw High School	684	692	1.2
Bloomingdale Middle and High School	589	569	-3.4
South Haven High School	568	569	0.2
Redwood Elementary School	554	567	2.3
Paw Paw Middle School	476	475	-0.2
Paw Paw Early Elementary School	466	472	1.3
Paw Paw Later Elementary School	447	462	3.4
Decatur Junior Senior High School	388	405	4.4
Hartford High School	386	404	4.7
Lawton Elementary School	436	401	-8
Davis Elementary School	349	380	8.9
Gobles Elementary School	361	359	-0.6
South Walnut Elementary School	331	335	1.2
Gobles High School	346	330	-4.6
Bloomingdale Elementary School	297	311	4.7
Lawton Middle School	218	307	40.8
Maple Grove Elementary School	305	302	-1
Hartford Middle School	307	295	-3.9
Lawton High School	300	289	-3.7
Bangor Middle School	307	285	-7.2
Bangor High School	278	276	-0.7
Lincoln School	230	234	1.7
Lawrence Junior-Senior High School	247	212	-14.2
Lawrence Elementary School	211	207	-1.9
Sister Lakes Elementary School	181	181	0
Covert Elementary School	155	140	-9.7
Covert High School	92	103	12
Bangor Career Academy	127	102	-19.7
Hartford Alternative Education	89	98	10.1
Mattawan Early Childhood Education Center	78	96	23.1
Cedar Street Community and Family Center	112	90	-19.6
Bert Goens Learning Center	94	87	-7.4
Community-Based Transition Center	49	70	42.9
Covert Middle School	74	65	-12.2
Lawton Accelerated Academic Center	55	53	-3.6
Gobles Virtual Academy	26	48	84.6
Behavioral Education Center	41	41	0
WAY South Haven	32	34	6.3
Wood School Bangor Township 8	26	24	-7.7