Victor Lynde

Education 302-303
Prof. Sara Leo
Context Section
Context: Grand Rapids Christian High School

Classroom Profile:

Under mentor-teacher Nate Vanderzee, I have been placed in an

eleventh grade, Government classroom. The total number of students in the

class is 28. Two are Asian students, six are African-American, one is Hispanic,

one is likely South East Asian, and the remaining eighteen students are

Caucasian. The gender split in the class is even with fourteen young women

and fourteen young men. I think it is also valuable to include that, in terms of

sexual orientation, the reality is very few students at Christian High feel

comfortable being open about their non-heterosexual orientation. When I

spoke with Mr. Vanderzee he informed me that for some of the students who

openly identify as gay, this identification is not always because it was their

choice; there are times are placed in this position because they told someone

and the word got out. In respects to this particular classroom, there are no

students who are openly LGBTQ+, but Mr. Vanderzee confided that he would

be surprised if there arent at least two gay students.

I was unable to access certain information regarding the specifics of

socio-economic status of the class, and I was informed that tuition rates and

financial aid would be unhelpful in this regard because there are many more

factors taken into account than just income and financial situation. However I
was able to gain access to the statistics concerning the number of students

eligible for Title 1 free and reduced lunch. Of the 28 students, six are eligible

for Title 1; within that three of those students qualify for free lunch and three

qualify for reduced. Moreover, the Counseling Office, which is the source of

the preceding information, informed me that one of the 28 students is an

international student and as such does not qualify in the same way for Title 1

privileges, so in effect it would be six out of 27.

According to Mr. Vanderzee, all of his students speak English very well.

Several students, two specifically were noted, speak native languages and do

so more frequently at home; these would include Malay language and

Chinese. While others may speak other languages at home, Mr. Vanderzee is

unaware of such individuals at this time. Additionally, while there are no

specific statistics on levels of attention and memory, motor and

spatial/sequential ordering, and higher order thinking range of abilities and

special needs. While there are some students who clearly have weaker

attention and memory skills, and others who have more proficient higher

order thinking abilities, Mr. Vanderzee indicated to me the difficulty of even

putting broad percentages on the development of these categories within his

classroom; however, it was explained to me that eight students qualify for

special help through the Educational Support Services program, which may

shed some light onto the general status of some students. Benefits include

the availability of a tutor, testing in a different room (sometimes with a

reader), and academic accountability help. The Inclusive Education program

at GRCHS is their special education program; however there are no special

education students in this class.

In terms of faith, most students come from a Christian background and

at least one in this class actively claims atheism, and Mr. Vanderzee believes

that number would likely rise if students were asked. He also noted that

many are nominally Christian and dont have much of an active faith life.

There is some level of cliquishness among the student body, especially along

racial lines. African American kids tend to hang out together, but there are

obviously exceptions. Mr. Vanderzee explained that there is some racial

segregation, and its something the school is trying to be more aware of and

combat.

The structure of the classroom is simple: seven table groups,

composed of two tables for each group with three to four students in each

group.

School Profile:

Grand Rapids Christian High School is a high school responsible for

educating students from grades 9 to 12. Access to socioeconomic and

financial statistics is somewhat limited with no information available on the

high school on the National Center for Education Statistics and limited

amounts available in their archives. The GRCS 2015/16 annual report said,

35% of our students receive some level of financial aid through the Schools
(GRCS 5). Also according to the report, on page 12, 8.8% of expenses are for

the financial aid of its students which is $2,016,388 (GRCS 12).

In terms of class configurations, nothing that jumps out grade level or

subject matter, but the school operated on a block system. On Monday

through Thursday all classes are block periods; only Friday has normal length

classes of 40 minutes. No tracking occurs at GRCHS. The high school uses

Michigan state standards for their curriculum, but textbooks vary pretty

widely from course to course and may change from year to year. In the case

of several classes they draw from numerous sources, especially this year as

they are restructuring a number of classes in the Social Studies department.

Regarding the school pulls from both the surrounding neighborhood as

well as more broadly, which Mr. Vanderzee would generalize as racially being

primarily white and economically as middle to upper class in terms of income

distribution. Students also come from all parts of Grand Rapids, Rockford,

Ada, and Kentwood. One of the more interesting demographic changes has

the significant increase in African Americans into GRCHS where there had

been significantly fewer in the past. When I spoke with Mr. Vanderzee about

this he helped explain. GRCHS, in an effort to make it possible for those of a

lower socioeconomic status to have access to quality Christian Education,

created what is known as the Eagle Fund. Millions of dollars in aid, from a

combination of donations, tuition, and wealthy donors helped develop this

fund when the school and its families saw a real need. According to Mr.
Vanderzee this Eagle Fund was directed more broadly at those of lower

socioeconomic background and not at the African-American community in

Grand Rapids this was, however, a consequence of the fund because many

African-American families suffer from a lower socioeconomic background and

live in poorer neighborhoods. With access to this fund, GRCHS began to pull

African-American kids from Kentwood, from neighborhoods to the north of

Burton St, and from the south, past Ottawa Hills High School and closer to

Division and Burton, where many neighborhoods are mostly African-

American. In recent years the Eagle Fund has had to be cut down because of

financial problems the school is having, but despite this the number of

African-Americans enrolling at GRCHS has not decreased in accordingly. Mr.

Vanderzee hypothesized that because GRCHS has had a much greater group

of African-Americans for the last several years many of these families have

felt more and more comfortable sending their kids there without the financial

incentive.

Works Cited:

2015-2016 Annual Report. (2016, January 01). Retrieved April 15, 2017,

from http://www.grcs.org/annualreport/