St. Joe-Benton Harbor News

Edwardsburg High School had the largest enrollment among Cass County schools, welcoming 773 students during the 2024-25 school year, according to the Michigan Department of Education.

Of all the students welcomed in the 2024-25 school year, 52.4% of them were boys, and 47.6% were girls.

Data also showed that most of the students were white, representing 88% of the Edwardsburg High School total enrollment.

Among the 23 schools in Cass County, Edwardsburg Middle School ranked second in enrollment numbers with 612 students, while Howard-Ellis Elementary School welcomed 529 students and ranked third in the 2024-25 school year.

Edwardsburg High School is part of Edwardsburg Public Schools, which roughly covers schools within Cass County, with its main office in Edwardsburg.

In the previous school year, Edwardsburg High School also had the largest number of students among Cass County schools.

In the 2024-25 school year, 1,427,386 students enrolled in Michigan schools, a figure 4.8% below the pre-pandemic total of 1,499,552 in 2019-20, with white students seeing the largest decline of approximately 3%.

Academic performance in Michigan remains below pre-pandemic levels. According to the 2024 NAEP results, the share of students reaching the basic benchmark in core subjects is about 10 percentage points lower than in 2019—except for fourth-grade math, which saw a decline of just 2 points.

Achievement gaps between ethnic groups also persist. On average, Hispanic students scored 15 points below white students. The gap was even wider for Black students, who scored about 30 points lower than their white peers.

The 2025 education budget, approved by Gov. Whitmer last July, totals $23.4 billion—$900 million less than the previous year’s budget. K-12 schools are working with $20.6 billion, a reduction from the $21.5 billion allocated in 2024.

However, some school superintendents and educators were concerned about the new budget. "Schools cannot function properly without adequate funding for safety and mental health," stated Rep. David Martin, R-Davison, referring to a significant cut of around $301 million from school safety and mental health programs. Based on the current bill, the program will receive just $26.5 million.

School name	City	Total School Enrollment
Edwardsburg High School	Edwardsburg	773
Edwardsburg Middle School	Edwardsburg	612
Howard-Ellis Elementary School	Niles	529
Union High School	Dowagiac	507
Dowagiac Middle School	Dowagiac	393
Eagle Lake Elementary School	Edwardsburg	385
Sam Adams Elementary School	Cassopolis	368
Edwardsburg Intermediate School	Edwardsburg	361
Edwardsburg Primary School	Edwardsburg	342
Cassopolis High School	Cassopolis	281
Marcellus Elementary School	Marcellus	264
Justus Gage Elementary School	Dowagiac	262
Patrick Hamilton Elementary School	Dowagiac	224
Kincheloe Elementary School	Dowagiac	214
Cassopolis Middle School	Cassopolis	188
Marcellus High School	Marcellus	160
Marcellus Middle School	Marcellus	136
Brookside Learning Center	Cassopolis	68
North Pointe Center	Dowagiac	57
Pathfinders Alternative Education	Dowagiac	49
Edwardsburg Alternative Learning Center	Edwardsburg	46
Volinia Outcome Base School	Marcellus	40
Cassopolis Alternative Education	Cassopolis	16