Academics
Black River Public School has been the home for many gifted students. A May, 2006, list published by the Washington Post ranked the school #55 nationally and #2 in the state of Michigan on a challenge index measuring advanced coursework. In May, 2007, Newsweek again ranked the school #2 in Michigan on its listing of the nation's top schools. In 2011, The Washington Post High School Challenge ranked Black River the #1 high school in the State of Michigan.
The Montessori program for elementary students has been successful since its inclusion into Black River. Black River initially only served grades 4 and 5, but expanded to include all standard elementary levels because of the aforementioned success.
Black River offers 18 Advanced Placement (AP) courses, boasting a participation rate that ranks in the top 1% in North America. Approximately 50% of the students who take an AP course achieve a score necessary to receive college credit, compared to the Michigan average of 11%. The high school gives higher numerical grades for these AP courses. These grades are based on a 5 point grade system, as opposed to the standard 4 point system.
Black River was the first Holland-area school to incorporate Spanish at the elementary level.
In 2002 elementary teacher Fran Olesen was chosen Charter School Teacher of the Year. In 2003, then current Head of School David Angerer was chosen as Charter Administrator of the Year by charter school leaders in Michigan and was the third charter school to receive the Michigan Association of Public School Academies' Summit Award for innovation in learning. In 2003 Marguerite Stephens was chosen as the Middle School Teacher of the Year by the Michigan Council for the Social Studies. In 2005 Marguerite Stephens was awarded a Japan Fulbright award. In 2010 mathematics instructor Nathan Meyer was chosen as a Class Nobel Educator of Distinction for the 2010- 2011 school year. In 2011 art teacher Peter Middleton received the Charter School Teacher of the Year award.
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Famous quotes containing the word academics:
“Almost all scholarly research carries practical and political implications. Better that we should spell these out ourselves than leave that task to people with a vested interest in stressing only some of the implications and falsifying others. The idea that academics should remain “above the fray” only gives ideologues license to misuse our work.”
—Stephanie Coontz (b. 1944)
“Our first line of defense in raising children with values is modeling good behavior ourselves. This is critical. How will our kids learn tolerance for others if our hearts are filled with hate? Learn compassion if we are indifferent? Perceive academics as important if soccer practice is a higher priority than homework?”
—Fred G. Gosman (20th century)