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Would your kindergartener come home and ask for a bowl of cereal
in Mandarin Chinese? If you live in the Forest Hills School System
in Grand Rapids Michigan, this isn’t as far fetched as it sounds.
The Meadowbrook Elementary School is home to the Forest Hills
Chinese Immersion Program. This program is the first of its kind in
West Michigan. The program just received a Federal Grant of $238,000
for the first year. If all program objectives are met, it will receive
additional funds for the next 2 years.
Leaders in Forest Hills educational community decided to add Mandarin
Chinese Immersion to their bilingual offerings with the assistance
of Michigan State University’s Confucius Institute. Currently 2
Chinese teachers are on the school faculty to give students in
the program an early start in bilingual education.
The Forest Hills District is continuing to expand Mandarin language
courses at middle and high school levels. With 55 percent of the
world’s population speculated to be from Asia in the year 2025 and
5 percent from North America, being fluent in Chinese will be a real
asset in the future business world.
Forest Hills also has a Spanish Immersion Program running at the
Ada Vista Elementary School.
Additional Forest Hills Schools Articles:
Forest Hills Schools Get Face-Lifts This Summer
Forest Hills Schools Update 2009
Westbrook Realty Grand Rapids MI Real Estate
Contact Terry 616-292-7263
Scheduled to open in the fall of 2010, construction has started on the new
elementary school at the old Ottawa Hills High School plot, formerly Iroquois
Middle School. The Grand Rapids Public School system sold the land and
buildings and the old Ottawa High School building was torn down this summer.
Major construction is now underway for the new school by Grand
Rapids Christian Schools. This is what the site looks like now:
And a site map of the future facility:
Home for Sale 1 block from this new GR Christian School
Westbrook Realty ~ Search Grand Rapids Real Estate
Copyright 2009 all rights reserved
Call 1-616-292-7263 or email me: terry@terrywestbrook.com
That library card is worth a free pass to a state park this year in Michigan
until September 25. Check with your local library to see if they have signed
up for this free state park program. There are also free hammocks as long
as supply lasts.
I would love to take a good book to the beach and read for a few hours
with the waves lapping, and my hammock swaying in the breeze. In fact,
I have a new mystery thriller that probably need to be read in the open air,
a lot less scary. When my imagination and the plot thickens, I can look up
and see a serene scene to bring me back to reality.
Or you could just wander the beach and soak up the beautiful
Michigan scenery. Either way, it is a great offer !
Westbrook Realty Grand Rapids Real Estate
Copyright 2009 All rights reserved
Newsweek makes its determination by ranking according to a ration devised by Jay Mathews: the number of Advanced Placement, Intl. Baccalaureate and/or Cambridge Tests taken by all students at a school in 2008 divided by the number of graduating seniors. All of schools on the list have an index of at least 1.000; they are all in the top 6 percent of public schools measured this way. (Most rankings just use AP)
West Michigan schools that ranked are:
Black River High School (Holland) Rank # 464 – 4th time on the list
East Grand Rapids High School Rank #1011 – 4th time on the list
Forest Hills Central High School Rank # 1088 – 5th time on the list
Lowell High School Rank # 1271 – 4th Time on the list
Jenison High School Rank # 1292 – 5th Time on the list
Mona Shores High School (Norton Shores) Rank # 1185 – 2nd time on the list
We all want our children to go to award-winning schools. These are the top
high schools in the area, by Newsweek ranking standards. Where you have
top high schools, you have an educated workforce, and typically higher
real estate prices because people want to live where their children will get
a great education.
Grand Rapids Real Estate Westbrook Realty
Copyright 2009 All rights reserved
Forest Hills Michigan – Home to a Growing Public School District
We just received the Superintendant’s News Letter with all the Forest
Hills Public School news. Of course, there was talk of budget challenges
and difficult times. Even school districts that are well-funded, like Forest
Hills Public, are having budget issues because of state funding reductions.
Forest Hills is focused on student education, and is still reducing
administrative overhead. 76.7% of the school budget is spent on
classroom and instructional support.
2009 Forest Hills School News:
- 3 Teachers recognized on state & national levels for excellence
- Conserved 1.9 million in reduced energy costs
- ALL Forest Hills Schools receive Green Certificates
- Received David D Smith Award for Environmental Stewardship
- Growing enrollment while 80% of Michigan districts are declining
- 2007 Bond Issue allows investment in infrastructure
- 10,100+ students, 2nd in size in Kent County, 23rd largest in
Michigan, out of 552
- 2009 Student MEAP Scores Highest in Michigan
Grand Rapids Real Estate ~ Westbrook Realty
Copyright 2009 All rights reserved
Grand Rapids Community College Offers Film Training
Michigan is one of the few states courting the film industry with
rebates and tax incentives. This should bring more film makers
to Michigan in 2009. In anticipation of the films and film crews
that will be needed to bring these projects to completion,
Grand Rapids Community College is offering 4 different courses
in training for film production.
- Basic Film Set Training
- Film Camera Loader Workshop
- Introduction to Technical Labor: Electrical
- Introduction to Technical Labor: The Film Grip
These classes run from $125 to $1750 for tuition fees and some
require some technical knowledge and expertise.
TicTock Studios in Holland MI is co-sponsoring the Basic Film Set
Training to supply needed expertise to film makers here. These
programs are state approved and might qualify for No Worker Left
Behind funding to participate in the film training program.
Henry Ford Community College is also offering classes.
The classes at GRCC start in March, so check out the links and
you could be working on a movie set this year!
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Grand Rapids Ada Real Estate Five Star Real Estate LLC
Copyright 2009 All rights reserved
