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Old 06-19-2010, 05:10 PM
 
Location: Niceville, FL
13,258 posts, read 22,839,738 times
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EGR is the place where there's pressure to be good at something. You don't have to have some sort of high powered career or have perfect SAT scores, but if you aren't in that category, you're still expected to have a story of being an outstanding creative person or an excellent musician or the guy who rocks at local road races or the best volunteer little league coach ever. Pretty much a meritocracy, and the minorities I knew that went through the schools there seemed to appreciate the education EGR gave them.

It's not the right place for everyone, but if you do 'click' there, you'll love it.
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Old 06-20-2010, 08:19 AM
 
Location: East Grand Rapids, MI
845 posts, read 3,272,099 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by beachmouse View Post
EGR is the place where there's pressure to be good at something. You don't have to have some sort of high powered career or have perfect SAT scores, but if you aren't in that category, you're still expected to have a story of being an outstanding creative person or an excellent musician or the guy who rocks at local road races or the best volunteer little league coach ever. Pretty much a meritocracy, and the minorities I knew that went through the schools there seemed to appreciate the education EGR gave them.

It's not the right place for everyone, but if you do 'click' there, you'll love it.
I concur.

The other thing that's nice about EGR is that it's not the cookie-cutter suburban experience. The homes are all different, the sidewalks actually lead somewhere (a nice little downtown) and your kilds will walk to school (with the 100s of other kids I see wandering down sidewalks in pack every morning).

It's pretty great in that regard, but as the beachmouse explained, it's also a high-pressure environment.
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Old 06-21-2010, 09:42 AM
 
484 posts, read 1,216,952 times
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Originally Posted by newarea1 View Post
Hi- we have an adopted child (hispanic, african american) and are looking to move to the Rockford or Forest Hills area. She will be starting kindergarten next fall. We were wondering what the diversity in the area and in the schools are. We are moving to the area in the near future and are wondering if anyone has any suggestions on racially diverse school districts? Thanks-
I personally wouldn't send her to Rockford. The schools are great but not at all diverse. If possible, make a visit to all the schools you are considering and take note of the diversity for yourself.
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Old 06-23-2010, 08:53 PM
 
Location: Worthington, OH
693 posts, read 2,258,357 times
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Grand Rapids is and will be the ultra conservative capital of Michigan for the foreseeable future...regardless of the school district or area of town you choose to live in.
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Old 06-24-2010, 05:27 AM
 
Location: West Michigan
3,119 posts, read 6,605,145 times
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Grand Rapids is and will be the ultra conservative capital of Michigan for the foreseeable future...regardless of the school district or area of town you choose to live in.
If that's what it takes to keep the economy looking better than the rest of the state (and also keeping the Unions away) then I hope you're right.
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Old 06-24-2010, 08:11 AM
 
1,210 posts, read 3,062,483 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MittenDweller82 View Post
Grand Rapids is and will be the ultra conservative capital of Michigan for the foreseeable future...regardless of the school district or area of town you choose to live in.
Ultra-conservative is a pretty big stretch. The city itself tends to vote Democratic. Both of the State House reps are Democrat. The congressional district on the other hand is fairly republican.
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Old 07-13-2010, 06:10 PM
 
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Rockford has increased in diversity over the past 10 years, but it's still by far a predominately "white" district. There seems to be a little more diversity among "income classes" compared to an EGR or Forest Hills, as not all of the kids are driving around brand new SUV's. If your daughter is in elementary school in Rockford, they do have a Spanish Immersion program at Roguewood Elementary school which is sought after by a lot of parents, and focuses heavily on celebrating culture.
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Old 07-14-2010, 08:04 AM
 
484 posts, read 1,216,952 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MittenDweller82 View Post
Grand Rapids is and will be the ultra conservative capital of Michigan for the foreseeable future...regardless of the school district or area of town you choose to live in.
Ultra conservative is a bit of a stretch. Depends on what your frame of reference is, I guess. I have school friends from out-of-state who think GR is ultra conservative until I introduce them to some of the people and places I hang out at. If you are living life in the CRC, then yes, GR is conservative.

Granted, the tolerance for deviations from the norm is considerably shorter than, say, NYC but not significantly different from most of the US.
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Old 07-21-2010, 10:33 AM
 
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As the parent of a minority child that attends EGR, I can tell you that the school system does only 'tolerate' minorities.
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Old 07-22-2010, 10:03 AM
 
1,433 posts, read 2,982,530 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MittenDweller82 View Post
Grand Rapids is and will be the ultra conservative capital of Michigan for the foreseeable future...regardless of the school district or area of town you choose to live in.
The immediate surrounding suburbs are indeed very conservative. Within the city boundary it's less so. I sense the majority people posting here are under 35 which tends to skew opinions more toward the liberal side than the town actually is.
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