The top reported proficiency rate is 39% in Social studies. The lowest is 19% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Nottawa Community School
Nottawa Community School is a small, single-building public school sitting along M-86 just outside Sturgis, in St. Joseph County. It serves pre-kindergarten through eighth grade, which means families looking for a continuous elementary and middle school experience in one place will find it here, with the understanding that high school will require a transition elsewhere. There is no graduation rate to report because the school does not serve high school grades. The enrollment is small for its grade band, and the student body is predominantly white, with a small Hispanic presence and a handful of students identifying as two or more races. Just over half of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the working-class character of the surrounding area.
The school's state assessment results paint a mixed picture. In English language arts, proficiency climbs steadily as students move through the grades. The upper elementary and middle school years show real strength, with sixth and eighth grade standing out as particularly high-performing compared with state expectations. Eighth grade ELA results are especially strong. This suggests that the school's literacy instruction may be hitting its stride in the later years, and families whose children stay through middle school may see genuine growth in reading and writing.
Mathematics tells a different story. Across every tested grade, proficiency runs low, hovering well below what most Michigan schools achieve. Fifth grade math results are reported in a suppressed range that sits at the bottom. The pattern is consistent rather than isolated to a single grade, which points to a broader instructional challenge in math rather than a one-year dip. A parent may want to look into this further with the school, asking how math curriculum and intervention are structured and what supports exist for students who are struggling. Science and social studies results land in between, with eighth grade social studies showing particular strength and eighth grade science also performing reasonably well.
When compared with other districts in St. Joseph County, Nottawa's overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades sits above the midpoint. This positioning reflects the strong ELA and social studies performance pulling the aggregate up, even as math results pull it down. No chronic absenteeism data was available, so it is not possible to say from this data how attendance patterns may relate to the academic results. Individualized education program and English learner counts were also missing from the available data.
The surrounding community shapes what life at Nottawa looks like. Sturgis is a small city at the crossroads of US 12 and M-66, just north of the Indiana border. Publicly reported sources describe it as a place with real industrial backbone, anchored by the Abbott Laboratories infant formula plant, which drew national attention during the 2022 formula shortage. The city owns its own electric utility and hydroelectric dam, earning it the nickname "Electric City." The population is young and, for rural southern Michigan, relatively diverse, with a meaningful Hispanic or Latino community. Downtown Sturgis centers on Nottawa Street and Chicago Road, with civic anchors including the Sturges-Young Auditorium, a Carnegie library, and a historic train depot that the community relocated across town for renovation as a museum. Pioneer Park preserves the site of the founder's original homestead. The district brief search turned up no recent parent-relevant changes to report.
Housing in the area is affordable relative to both state and national benchmarks. Home values sit well below the Michigan statewide figure and far below national levels, and the price-to-income ratio is modest. For families considering a move to the area, this means homeownership is within reach in a way it is not in many parts of the state. Rental data was not available.
What Nottawa offers is a small-scale, community-rooted education where children stay in one building from their earliest years through middle school. The academic profile has genuine bright spots in literacy and the humanities, balanced against a clear and persistent weakness in mathematics that a family should ask about directly. For parents who value a small setting, continuity of relationships, and a rural community with industrial employment and civic activity nearby, this is a school worth understanding on its own terms.
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