Whitley and Dan Morse met as new teachers in Grand Rapids Public Schools. Fifteen years later, the married couple are still there, Whitley as a teacher at Ottawa Hills High School and Dan as principal of North Park Montessori Academy. Their shared commitment to serving students in urban schools was recently honored as alumni of Davenport University’s College of Urban Education. They talk to SNN about why they’ve devoted their careers to helping GRPS students grow into their best selves and to giving back to the community.

For more great stories about the changes and challenges of school districts in West Michigan, check out our website, School News Network.org. And if you have ideas for future programs, feel free to send them to us at SNN@kentisd.org. Thanks for listening, and happy studying!

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which requires children with disabilities be educated to the “maximum extent possible” with non-disabled students. At Meadow Ridge Elementary School in Rockford, Michigan, a team of educators is doing just that for Ellie Gard, a student with Down syndrome, who learns in a general-ed classroom alongside her second-grade peers. We talk with two of her teachers and her mother about how they work together to make this work.

For more great stories about the changes and challenges of school districts in West Michigan, check out our website, School News Network.org. And if you have ideas for future programs, feel free to send them to us at SNN@kentisd.org. Thanks for listening, and happy studying!

These days, school districts are looking for more than a few good teachers, with not enough people entering the teaching pipeline and too many leaving it. The West Michigan Teacher Collaborative aims to flip that script by helping aspiring teachers become certified and current teachers earn graduate degrees and endorsements. Susie Dennis and Angie Drake describe how WMTC has been “life-changing” for them as they pursue their certifications this school year.

For more great stories about the changes and challenges of school districts in West Michigan, check out our website, School News Network.org. And if you have ideas for future programs, feel free to send them to us at SNN@kentisd.org. Thanks for listening, and happy studying!