GRPMS is the product of a collaboration between numerous stakeholders, including the school district, the museum, Kendall College of Art and Design, and Grand Valley State University. Its founders wanted to build on the success of the GRPMS middle school, housed inside the museum’s current home, and provide a similar approach to hands-on learning for students in grades 9-12. This exciting proposal led to the high school’s selection as an XQ Super School.

GRPMS educators build meaningful, engaged learning experiences that connect students deeply with community-driven projects. They integrate various subjects—the humanities, STEM, and electives—into projects and blended thematic units. Through the lens of design thinking, students explore topics like sustainability and gentrification with local organizations and create real impact.

In addition, students help museum staff collect, process, and curate new materials in a design lab where they play a role in designing and updating existing exhibits. One student found a spacesuit from an Apollo mission, and another found a flapper dress from the 1920s. They also recorded interviews about the artifacts and created podcasts.

GRPMS students also learn from and work with community partners all over the city—from nonprofit groups to local scientists, artists, and businesses. 

Student Outcomes

GRPMS leaders are committed to being a driving force for education and revitalization in the community, believing that engaged learners are more likely to become engaged citizens. The high school graduated its first class in 2022 and serves about 300 students. 

That first class posted a graduation rate of 86 percent, which was above the rate for the district and state (81 percent for both), according to Michigan’s state Department of Education.

More than two-thirds of GRPMS students (67 percent) met the SAT’s college-ready benchmark for Evidence-Based Reading and Writing in 2021, when the Class of 2022 was 11th graders, far outpacing the Grand Rapids district’s rate of 40 percent and well above the statewide rate of 57 percent. The same pattern was held in the state’s 11th-grade social studies and science assessments.

The GRPMS class of 2022 had double the combined proficiency rate across all state assessments compared with students in 23 “similar high schools” identified by the Michigan Department of Education (42 versus 21 percent). 

In addition, 56 percent of 2022 graduates earned college credits during high school.