New Groningen Elementary

Zeeland Public Schools

Zeeland, MI
ZEELAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Zeeland Public School (ZPS) district is located in Zeeland, MI. The district covers 94
square miles in West Michigan, encompassing the city of Zeeland, a portion of the city of
Holland, and eight rural townships in Ottawa and Allegan Counties. Traditional community
values and a robust job market make the area attractive to young families and
professionals. Michigans West Coast is home to some of the best-known names in the food
industry (Heinz, Mead Johnson Nutritionals, Pfizer, Perrigo, Request Foods, Boars Head
Provisions). Plants for several automotive component suppliers are also located in and
around Zeeland (Johnson Controls, Gentex, LG-Chem, and many more). Additionally, this
area has long been home to Haworth, Herman Miller, and Trendway: some of the worlds
best known furniture manufacturers.
ZPS serves 5,739 students through its six elementary schools, two middle schools,
and two high schools. The district also offers Young Fives programming, a program for
gifted fourth and fifth graders who qualify, and 2 non-traditional elementary options:
ZQuest (a year-round, project-based learning school) and Spanish Immersion (ZPS
curriculum taught entirely in Spanish by native Spanish-speaking teachers). ZPS middle
schools are on opposite sides of the district and both offer the same rigorous curriculum for
students, taught by teachers organized into grade level teams. The two high schools:
Zeeland East and Zeeland West, are located on the same campus (800 feet apart) and offer
comparable core classes in a six-hour format. They offer college preparatory, business,
vocational, general education, technical, and advanced placement courses. Zeeland
maintains a very strong fine arts program as well as a complete athletic program and
multitude of clubs. ZPS also offers an alternative high school program that boasts of smaller
class sizes, non-traditional schedules, and increased teacher support.
ZPS provides children a strong foundation that includes an outstanding amount of
parent participation. During the 2012-2013 academic year, 5,536 volunteers worked
62,953 hours in ZPS classrooms. ZPS uses an electronic check-in system that not only logs

volunteer hours, but runs background checks on all visitors and volunteers in the school
buildings.
Over the past few years, enrollment in Zeeland Public Schools has remained steady.
In the 2010-2011 school year, Zeeland Public Schools served 5,771 students. In 2011-2012,
district wide enrollment increased to 5,821; in 2012-2013, it dropped back to 5,751 and it
is currently 5,739 students.
Low student mobility is enjoyed by the majority of schools in the Zeeland Public
School district. Despite recurring cuts in funding, the districts fund balance has increased
over the past three years and average class sizes have only increased by 1.5 students. The
districts graduation rate has increased from 82.7% in 2010-2011 to 88.5% in 2012-2013,
and the dropout rate has steadily decreased as well (from 6.7% in 2010-2011, to 6.2% in
2011-2012, to 5.8% in 2012-2013).

NEW GRONINGEN ELEMENTARY

New Groningen Elementary is a K-5 building located in the western region of the
school district. In the past 5 years, New Groningens enrollment has remained relatively
stable despite a multitude of changes. In the 2010-2011 school year, New Groningen, under
the leadership of a new principal, Mrs. Laurie Poll, served 371 students. That summer,
Zeeland Public Schools established new boundary lines for each of its schools and the
2011-2012 enrollment at New Groningen dropped to 368. In 2012-2013, a new, year-round
elementary program was added into the district, but it did not seem to impact New
Groningen directly; enrollment that year increased to 422. In 2013-2014, enrollment went
back down to 417. In the fall of 2014, Zeeland Public Schools began a Spanish Immersion
elementary program that is housed primarily at New Groningen Elementary. With the
addition of this program, New Groningens enrollment increased, bringing the new total to
447 full-time students enrolled in grades K-5 for the 2014-2015 school year. There are 0
part-time students.
New Groningen is a school that prides itself on being prepared to meet the needs of
all students, including those with special needs and learning challenges. There are 3

classrooms per grade level for grades K-5. The building also has two special education
resource rooms, a categorical classroom for students from across the district with cognitive
impairments, speech, social work, English Language Learner (ELL) support, a reading
teacher who provides Reading Recovery instruction, and a full-time interventionist. There
are 35 students currently receiving special education services at New Groningen. New
Groningen also has two Spanish Immersion classes; one section each in Kindergarten and
First grade. All of the special programs and services at New Groningen are district funded
and operated.

Building Demographics

New Groningen

Total Number of Students

447

Enrollment Breakdown by Ethnicity

White (%)

75.36%

Black (%)

2.84%

Hispanic (%)

11.37%

Asian/Pacific Islander (%)

6.4%

American Indian (%)

0%

Multi-Racial (%)

3.32%

Students with disabilities

15%

Students eligible for free/reduced lunch

25%

English Language Learners

7%

New Groningen is a welcoming and inviting school with a competent staff of

professional educators. There are 35 staff members at New Groningen and 447 students;
mathematically, the staff-to-student ratio is 1:12.7. Within New Groningens classrooms,
the staff-to-student ratio is actually closer to 1:26. All of the elementary schools in the
district share the same contractual requirements and caps for K-5 classrooms. When a
classroom exceeds a certain number of students (K: 25, 1st: 26, 2nd: 27, 3rd: 28, 4th: 29. 5th:
30), the district must compensate the teacher directly, or provide an aide to assist in that
classroom. These ratios and caps are very similar to and usually lower than -- other

schools and districts within our geographical area. ZPS has a reputation of working hard to
keep class sizes as low as possible in order to ensure the best educational experience for
students.
New Groningen has 35 full-time professional staff members, 5 full-time aides, 6
part-time playground supervisors, 2 part-time lunch servers, 2 part-time lunchroom aides,
2 full-time clerical staff members, 1 full time custodian and 3 part-time custodians. The 35
professional staff members, 2 clerical workers, and the full-time custodian are salaried and
receive benefits; the rest of the New Groningen staff is paid hourly and does not receive
benefits through ZPS.
Because of its boundary lines, New Groningen tends to serve some of the districts
more affluent students who traditionally come from stable and supportive homes. While
Zeeland Public Schools enjoys its reputation as a destination school district, there are also
a number of additional educational options both public and nonpublic - for community
members. There are three large systems of private, Christian schools in the community
(Holland Christian, Zeeland Christian, and Calvary Schools), as well as many smaller, local
church-based schools. Additionally, there are charter schools, magnet schools, nontraditional schools, and schools with flexible schedules to allow for part-time
homeschooling opportunities.
Zeeland is a stable community that is supportive of education and public schools.
When analyzing student mobility trends over the past three school years, it becomes
evident that New Groningen elementary is also very stable in terms of enrollment. None of
the grades (Kindergarten through fifth) have gained or lost more than 2 students over the
course of a school year since 2010, and most grade levels routinely end the school year
with the same students who start it. In 2012, across all six grade levels, New Groningen
had 13 total students leave during the school year and 20 students enter in. The stability of
the Zeeland school district is further demonstrated through the communitys willingness to
support instructional improvements and budgetary decision-making.

ZEELAND COMMUNITY

Zeelands population has remained primarily white, middle class, and familyoriented over the past couple decades. Zeeland is a community with traditional values, a
very high prevalence of Dutch and Christian Reformed heritage, and strong generational
ties. Zeeland Public Schools are very well-supported by the community and I believe that a
large part of this is due to the fact that many families have had their children attending the
same schools for generations; the sense of legacy here is strong. When bond issues are
proposed in Zeeland, they pass; when schools needs are known, the community rises to
meet them. Local families, students, and staff are, overall, quite willing to support budget
recommendations and reductions and the confidence and trust in the school board and
central office administration is strong, even through recent leadership changes. The
teachers union and the ZPS administration are also quite unique; more often than not, they
operate as a team and make decisions and settle disagreements behind closed doors so that
they can present and maintain a unified front before the school board, school staff, and the
public.
Zeeland Community Demographics

District Average

Single -parent Households with Children

19.5%

Adults with at least a High School diploma

86.6%

Adults with at least a Bachelors degree

26%

Population 65 years or older

10.8%

Median home value

$151,500

Median household income

$52,200

Race classification: white (%)

91%

References:
http://www.westcoastchamber.org/
www.zps.org
http://www.ci.zeeland.mi.us/