Spring Lake Public Schools

Spring Lake Public Schools
Address
345 Hammond Street[1]
Spring Lake
, Ottawa, Michigan, 49456
United States
District information
GradesPre-Kindergarten-12
SuperintendentDennis Furton[2]
Schools6[3]
Budget$35,832,000 2021-2022 expenditures[3]
NCES District ID2632550[3]
Students and staff
Students2,297 (2023-2024)[3]
Teachers143.21 (on an FTE basis) (2023-2024)[3]
Staff304.17 FTE (2023-2024)[3]
Student–teacher ratio16.04 (2023-2024)[3]
Other information
Websitewww.springlakeschools.org

Spring Lake Public Schools is a public school district headquartered in Spring Lake, Michigan. It serves the village of Spring Lake and most of Spring Lake Township (except for a portion in the north zoned to Grand Haven Area Public Schools and a portion in the east zoned to Fruitport Community Schools) and parts of Crockery Township in Ottawa County.[4]

History

The first school in Spring Lake was built in 1844. Known as Barber Street School, it remained in service until 1855, when a new school was built, and it was moved and put to other uses. In 1988, it was moved to the southwest corner of West Exchange Street and South Buchanan Street and renovated for community use.[5]

A union school district was established in 1867, and a Union School was built in 1869. On May 11, 1893, half of Spring Lake village was destroyed in a fire,[6] including the Union School. It was rebuilt and reopened in 1894. It was located across Exchange Street from the current site of Barber Street School.[5]

In 1951, Holmes Elementary was built.[5] The Jeffers school district and its three-room school, Jeffers Elementary, was annexed by Spring Lake district in 1957. By 1969, the district had built several additions to Jeffers Elementary.[7]

As of 1957, the Union School was still in use as a junior high school. An article in the Grand Haven Tribune called it a "‘horse and buggy’ building which was built in 1893 and enlarged in 1919. In case of fire the youngsters on the upper floor must slide down the ‘chute.’ [A fire escape slide attached to the outside of the building.] … Lighting, ventilation, and other structural problems are not easy to solve …"[8]

In November 1957, voters passed a bond issue to build a new junior high school at 345 Hammond Street.[9] It was dedicated on November 30, 1959.[10] By 1961, the community was debating establishing a high school of its own instead of sending its high school students to Grand Haven High School.[11]

In fall 1963, additions to house a high school were completed at the junior high school.[12] Ninth and tenth grade were added that year, and by 1965, the high school went to grade twelve.[5]

The current high school was dedicated on June 15, 2000[13] and opened in fall 2000.[14] The architecture firm Fanning/Howey Inc. designed the building.[13] The former junior/senior high school building became the district's middle school and intermediate school.[15]

Substantial reconstruction of Jeffers and Holmes Elementaries was completed in fall 2016.[16]

Schools

Schools in Spring Lake Public Schools district[15]
School Address Notes
Spring Lake High School 16140 148th Ave., Spring Lake Grades 9-12. Built 2000.[13]
Spring Lake Middle School 345 Hammond St., Spring Lake Grades 7-8. Shares a building with Spring Lake Intermediate School. Built 1959.[10]
Spring Lake Intermediate School 345 Hammond St., Spring Lake Grades 5-6. Shares a building with Spring Lake Middle School.
Holmes Elementary 426 River St., Spring Lake Grades PreK-4. Built 1951.[5]
Jeffers Elementary 16031 144th Ave., Spring Lake Grades PreK-4

References

  1. ^ Spring Lake Public Schools. "Spring Lake Public Schools". Retrieved September 21, 2025.
  2. ^ Spring Lake Public Schools. "Staff Directory Central Office". Retrieved September 21, 2025.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "Search for Public School Districts – District Detail for Spring Lake Public Schools". National Center for Education Statistics. Institute of Education Sciences.
  4. ^ Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget. "Ottawa County School Districts" (PDF). Retrieved September 21, 2025.
  5. ^ a b c d e Jones, Barb. "Organization and History of the Spring Lake Township Schools". Retrieved September 21, 2025.
  6. ^ "Great Events of 1893". Ann Arbor Register. December 28, 1893.
  7. ^ Oslund, Carol (November 14, 1969). "New library is eye catcher". Grand Haven Tribune. p. 5.
  8. ^ "Why Spring Lake needs a new junior high school". Grand Haven Tribune. November 8, 1957. p. 8.
  9. ^ "Reports Tri-Cities face vast school construction". Grand Rapids Press. November 20, 1957. p. 43.
  10. ^ a b "S.L. Junior High to be all set for Nov. 30 dedication". Grand Haven Tribune. November 20, 1959. p. 1.
  11. ^ "Letters to the editor". Grand Haven Tribune. November 16, 1961. p. 6.
  12. ^ "SL Senior High open house, Sept. 3". Grand Haven Tribune. July 13, 1963. p. 2.
  13. ^ a b c Miller, Cynthia L. (June 2, 2000). "New $16.4 million high school ready for unveiling". Grand Haven Tribune. p. 2B.
  14. ^ "Housing development near new high school on road to approval". Grand Haven Tribune. October 10, 2000. p. 1.
  15. ^ a b Spring Lake Public Schools. "Our Schools menu". Retrieved September 21, 2025.
  16. ^ Wagner, Krystle (September 19, 2016). "Celebrating Holmes Elementary School". Grand Haven Tribune. p. 1.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.