Ashley Meyers

Ed 302/303
3/17/16
Unit Plan: Context
My aiding placement is at Grand Rapids Christian High School (GRCHS). The students
there are in 9th-12th grade and are in one of three choirs: Womens Choir, Mens Choir, or
Chamber Chorale. There are about 55 students in the Womens Choir, roughly 38 students in the
Mens Choir, and around 27 students in the Chamber Chorale. Within the Womens Choir, there
are three students who appear to be African American, one student who is South African, and
three students who appear to be Hispanic. Obviously the Womens Choir and the Mens Choir are
composed of just girls or just guys, respectively, but the Chamber Chorale is a mixed gender
group (although the ratio of girls to guys in Chamber Chorale is probably close to 2:1). Chamber
Chorale is also an audition-based group and only open to juniors and seniors.
Within the school at large, roughly 49% is male and 51% is female according to
Niche.com (usaschoolinfo.com reported that 52% of students are male and 47% are female, but
either way the ratio is fairly close to 50/50). There are 947 students total at Grand Rapids
Christian High School and the school is ranked 25th in the state of Michigan (Niche.com). The
school offers several Advanced Placement classes and there does not appear to be tracking since
AP and Honors classes are open to any student who wants to take them. According to the school
website, 197 GRCHS students took 328 exams in 9 areas. Students earned at least one score of
three or higher on 79% of those exams during the 2015 school year. This is compared with 66%
of all students in Michigan and 61% of all students globally who score a 3 or higher on at least 1
exam. Similarly, GRCHSs ACT scores were exceptional with an average of 23.6 in 2013,
compared to a state average of 20.1 and a national average of 21.1 (Grand Rapids Christian

School Profile 2013-2014). Also, 80% of graduating seniors in 2015 reported that they planned
to attend a 4-year college after graduation (Grand Rapids Christian High School website). These
figures would suggest that Grand Rapids Christian High School is doing quite well academically.
Two different studies had information about the racial and ethnic distribution at the
school. The first set of data (from Niche.com) did not list when it was collected, but the second
set of data (from usaschoolinfo.com) was from the 2009-2010 school year. According to the first
study, 75% are White (vs. 51% White students in public schools nationally), 14% of students are
African American (vs. 15% nationally), 7% are Asian (vs. 4.8% nationally), 2% are Hispanic (vs.
25% nationally), and less than 1 % of students identify as multi-racial (vs. 2.8% nationally). In
the 2009-2010 school year, 79% of students were White, 9% were African American, 6.4% were
Asian, 4.6% identified as multiracial, and 0.4% were Hispanic. Thus, minority students are
significantly underrepresented at Grand Rapids Christian School especially Hispanic students.
According to last years data for the Grand Rapids Christian Middle School (GRCMS,
2015), 297 families whose children attended GRCMS lived within the Grand Rapids city limits
while 55 families lived in various towns or suburbs near Grand Rapids such as East Grand
Rapids, Ada, or Kent. Most of these other neighborhoods had five or fewer families who lived
there; however, there were 19 families who commuted from Wyoming. Clearly though, the vast
majority of families resided in the city of Grand Rapids. Unfortunately, the city of Grand
Rapids, is a pretty broad area, so it is difficult to say whether many students live within a few
blocks of the school or not, but I would expect that a large portion of students live within a few
miles of the school. Perhaps this is a private school phenomenon in that students can come from
a variety of places rather than school district lines.

From this same set of data (GRCMS, 2015), roughly 20% of students qualified for free or
reduced lunch (this may not be exactly the same at the high school level, but I would expect that
it would be a somewhat similar percentage). Though the percentage of students who qualify for
free or reduced lunches was higher than I expected, I would still think that a large percentage of
students at Grand Rapids Christian High School are from the upper-middle or upper classes
based on the cost of tuition. For grades 9-12, the requested tuition is $11,810 and the required
tuition is $9,445. Even the required tuition is pretty high, so the school does offer financial aid,
which 40% of families receive. Financial aid is based on a familys taxes (income) and their
monthly expenses. This may bring in some degree of economic diversity, but the percentage of
lower-middle class (or even just simply middle class) students is probably pretty low.
In general, Grand Rapid Christian High School is a very privileged school: the majority
of the students are White, many of them come from mid-high socioeconomic statuses, the
physical building is in very good condition, and students grades and test scores tend to be high.
However, I have enjoyed working with my students in Womens Choir, Mens Choir, and
Chamber Chorale at Grand Rapids Christian School. Most of the students seem fairly warm and
receptive to me, which I appreciate. To be an effective instructor, it is important to know ones
students well and to treat them with respect and care.

Sources
Bryant, A. (2015). Data Day: A Report of Demographic, Program, and Achievement Data.
Grand Rapids Christian High School (2016). In Niche. Retrieved April 24, 2016, from
https://k12.niche.com/grand-rapids-christian-high-school-grand-rapids-mi/
Grand Rapids Christian High School in Grand Rapids, Michigan (2016). In USA School Info.
Retrieved April 24, 2016, from http://www.usaschoolinfo.com/school/grand-rapidschristian-high-school-grand-rapids-michigan.108372/enrollment
Grand Rapids Christian High School Profile 2013-2014 (2013). In Grand Rapids Christian .
Retrieved April 24, 2016.
School Profile 2016-2016 (2015). In Grand Rapids Christian. Retrieved April 24, 2016, from
http://www.grcs.org/netcommunity/document.doc?id=4035