Context of Grand Rapids Montessori

Grand Rapids Montessori Public School is located at the corner of Lyon Street and

College Avenue in Grand Rapids, Michigan. 420 students attend Grand Rapids Montessori in

prekindergarten to grade twelve (U.S. Department of Education, 2018). However, these students

are spread across three buildings. Students in prekindergarten through fifth grade are in one

building, sixth through eight grades are in another building, and ninth through twelfth grades are

in another. No tracking occurs in the elementary school grades.

The students who attend Grand Rapids Montessori come primarily from the

neighborhood surrounding the school. Specifically, the area from which students come is

bordered by Michigan Street to the north, the Grand River and US 131 to the west, Wealthy

Street to the south, and Houseman Avenue to the east (Grand Rapids Montessori Public School,

n.d.). This area has a median household income of about 25,000 dollars and between 12 and 13

percent of children under the age of 18 live in poverty. 69 percent of its population is white, 21

percent black, and 6 percent Latino. 92 percent of this population speaks only English at home

(Memphis Teacher Residency, n.d.).

Opportunities for learning abound in the neighborhood of Grand Rapids Montessori. The

school is located just outside of downtown Grand Rapids. Nearby is the Grand Rapids Public

Museum where students can walk through a replica of a historic Grand Rapids street, see

taxidermized animals native to Michigan, and visit the planetarium. The Grand Rapids Art

Museum and children’s museum are also nearby.

The demographics of Grand Rapids Montessori seem to loosely resemble the

demographics of the surrounding neighborhood. At Grand Rapids Montessori, 51 percent of

students are white, 26 percent are black, and 13 percent are Latino (Greatschools.org, 2018).
Grand Rapids Montessori is a Title I school (U.S. Department of Education, 2018). 57 percent of

students come from families that have been classified as low-income (Greatschools.org, 2018).

49 percent of the schools students qualify for free lunch and 9 percent qualify for reduced lunch.

These numbers are higher than the state’s average (Grand Rapids Montessori Public School,

n.d.).

Math and reading/language arts test scores are also lower than the state average. 16

percent of students scored as being proficient in math compared to the state average of 38

percent. Reading/language arts test scores are only slightly below the state average of 50 percent

proficient with 47 percent of Grand Rapids Montessori students being considered proficient

(Grand Rapids Montessori Public School, n.d.). However, Grand Rapids Montessori elementary

has higher standardized test scores then other area schools (Introducing Montessori, n.d.).

Common Core state standards are followed by teachers. To meet these standards, teachers use

GO Math and Reading Street texts according to Miss E.

Miss E has 27 students in her class. These students are in first, second, or third grade and

their ages range from six to nine years old. Nine students are in first grade; ten students are in

second grade; seven students are in third grade. 15 students are female and 12 students are male.

The class is made up of 19 white students, four black students, and four Latino students.

A wide range of ability levels exist among students in Miss E’s classroom. The wide age

range of these students contributes to this. Some students seem to have no trouble paying

attention to Miss E’s instruction and recalling her directions, but some students also struggle to

follow along and remember directions. Some students appear clumsy weaving between students

working through lessons on the floor while others traverse the classroom with apparent ease.

Two students in the class are currently in the process of undergoing testing for autism.
 Miss E has said that she has been blessed greatly with high levels of parent involvement

this year. Almost every morning there has been a parent at the door with a completed project that

she has volunteered to do for Miss E. Miss E says that there are three families who help the most.

They are all very close and help do classroom things like lamination and cutting for Miss E

together.

Works Cited
Grand Rapids Montessori Public School. (n.d.). Retrieved from Public School Review:
https://www.publicschoolreview.com/grand-rapids-montessori-public-school-profile

Greatschools.org. (2018, February 8). Retrieved from Grand Rapids Montessori Public School:
https://www.greatschools.org/michigan/grand-rapids/1692-Grand-Rapids-Montessori-Public-
School/

Introducing Montessori. (n.d.). Retrieved from Grand Rapids Public Schools:

https://www.grps.org/montessori

Memphis Teacher Residency. (n.d.). EDgap Map. Retrieved from EDgap.org:

https://www.edgap.org/#14/42.9594/-85.6493

U.S. Department of Education. (2018). Search for Public Schools. Retrieved from National Center for
Education Statistics:
https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsearch/school_detail.asp?Search=1&InstName=Grand+Rapids+M
ontessori+&State=26&County=Kent+County&SpecificSchlTypes=all&IncGrade=-1&LoGrade=-
1&HiGrade=-1&ID=261644000881