Julia McKee

EDUC 302/303
Context
Grand Rapids Montessori
Grand Rapids Montessori High School is located right near
downtown Grand Rapids on Fountain Street. Grand Rapids is
demographical diverse. It is made up of about 60 percent Caucasian,
20 percent African American, 15 percent Hispanic, and about 1 percent
Asian (United 2010). Living in Grand Rapids for the past 3 years now
has allowed me to observe the demographics first hand. When
traveling through different parts of Grand Rapids, certain races become
more evident. For example, East Grand Rapids is largely white, but, as
you get closer to downtown, the demographics change to mostly
Latino and African American. Grand Rapids is still considered a growing
city. For this reason, there are areas of high wealth and areas of
poverty. The medium household income in 2014 was $39,913, but
some areas this number it was dramatically higher and others it was
dramatically lower (United). Most students come from the surrounding
neighborhood, but there are exceptions. Some students travel 30
minutes by bus to get to school, but most are local and walk to school.
Grand Rapids Montessori is technically a K-12 school, but it is
broken in between two different buildings. The high school and the
middle school are located on the ground level of Innovation Central

High School and doors separate them. The elementary school is

located in a different building next door. This school has students from
many different backgrounds. 49 percent of students are from minority
backgrounds (Jones 2016). In the 2013-2014 school year, of the 424
students that attended the Montessori school, the racial breakdown
was 207 white students, 114 African America, 57 Hispanic, 32
multiracial, and 9 Asian (NCES). The school offers a slightly more
diverse population than Grand Rapids as a whole. In addition to this,
over half of the school qualifies for free or reduced lunch (NCES). The
high school building could use some upgrading. There is not a lot of
technology present in the classroom. The teacher uses a projector on a
daily bases, but students do not have personal computers or tablets.
Because it is a Montessori school, classes are mixed between grade
levels and teachers teach multiple grades. This means that one
teacher could have students multiple times a day. The relationships
between the students appear to be appropriate. I have noticed that
without a seating chart students tend to sit near other students of the
same racial makeup. But, my teacher does utilize a seating chart in
most of her classes, and the students appear to get along when sat
next to different students.
Throughout the day, I am with my teacher for 3 class periods.
The classroom is set up in tables and the tables are set up in a circular
figure around the room. Every student has a class folder that they do

his/her daily assignments in. This folder stays in the classroom. The
teacher utilizes the projector every day. At the start of each class,
students get their folders and answer some questions that my teacher
has put together. My first period is a 9th and 10th grade English class.
This is the class I will be teaching my unit plan in. In this class there are
20 students. 10 students are male and 10 students are female. There
appears to be 11 white students, 7 African American students, and 2
Hispanic students. In this class, engagement is high. Students appear
to be comfortable with each other. Second hour is an English class of
only 12th graders. There are 15 students in this class. There are 9
female students and 6 male students. There appears to be 3 white
students, 4 African American students, and 8 Hispanic students. Also,
in this class, 2 students have high functioning autism. Because this
class is smaller than most, the students appear to know each other
well. They are comfortable talking with each other and talking aloud
during class. My third hour is an 11th and 12th grade English class.
There are 31 students in this class. In this class there is 16 female
students and 15 male students. There appears to be 9 white students,
17 African American students, and 5 Hispanic students. Because of the
size of this class, sometimes involvement can be an issue. Students
tend to talk over one another. In all classes, the level of English
appears to be proficient. Their writing skills may be below other
students their age, but overall their higher order thinking and attention

and memory seem to be proficient considering their age groups and

subject matter. Because this is a public school, spirituality does not
come up often, but students to portray a soli moral understand. During
class debates, they can clearly articulate right from wrong. In addition
to this, it may also be important to note that students must abide by
school uniform and there are specific rules to use the bathroom (only
one student can go at a time, he/she must sign out and back in, and
he/she must carry a bathroom pass around).

Works Cited
Jones, N. (2016, September 28). School Improvement Plan. In Grps.org.
Retrieved

October 16, 2016.

National Center for Education Statistics. (2014).

United States Census Bureau. (2010-2014)