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Lighthouse Academy Waalkes

GRAND RAPIDS · MI · Lighthouse Academy · Public charter · K-12 combined

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📋 At a glance

Programs & features
Academic signals
  • 🎓 AP rigor: Bottom 18% of US high schools
  • 📝 SAT/ACT participation: Bottom 4% by test-taker volume

Composed from federal CRDC offerings, EDFacts ACGR, and other public data. Full breakdowns below.

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How Lighthouse Academy Waalkes compares for families

What families should know about Lighthouse Academy Waalkes.

  • LocallyMI sits right at the US average on NAEP 8th-grade math — local school quality will set your kid apart.
  • vs Similar SchoolsThe closest comparables nearby: Plymouth Christian School, Lighthouse Academy The Pier, Wellspring Preparatory High School and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.
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SAT / ACT participation

CRDC federal data · 2020-21

Bottom 4% by test-taker volume

50th 90th
SAT/ACT test-takers
2
11th-12th graders who took 1+ college admissions test
Test-taking intensity
3.7
takers per 100 students in grades 9-12
Compared against
18,426
US high schools reporting SAT/ACT participation

Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2020-21). Volume — not score — is what's reported here. A higher count means more students at this school are entering the college admissions pipeline. Note: 2020-21 was COVID-disrupted; some districts (especially those that stayed remote longer) report unusually low or zero takers.

👩‍🏫 Teacher workforce · federal CRDC

Teacher experience & reliability

% inexperienced teachers (1st-2nd yr)
10.0%
Typical mix. Watch the trend — high turnover can compound.
% chronic teacher absence (≥10 days/yr)
20.0%
Elevated. Teacher absence directly affects classroom continuity and student outcomes.

Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2017-18 — the most recent vintage that publishes per-school teacher quality fields; the 2020-21 sweep had them suppressed). "Inexperienced" = teachers in their first or second year. "Chronic absence" = teachers absent 10+ days/year.

🏛️ Federal Title I context

High-poverty school

Title I Schoolwide eligible

95.9%
FRPL rate — % of students who qualify for the federal Free or Reduced-Price Lunch program. This is the underlying federal income-eligibility signal Title I designations are computed from (ESEA Sec. 1113).
0% (no FRPL) 35% TA · 40% Schoolwide 100% (universal FRPL)

≥75% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch. These schools qualify for the highest tier of federal Title I funding and typically receive extra wraparound services. Academic outcomes vary widely — check the state assessment + grad-rate tiles.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data, free/reduced-price lunch eligibility. The actual Title I designation is a district decision and may differ from eligibility — but the federal eligibility math is what we show here. We don't claim to assert whether the district formally chose to enroll this school in Title I.

Enrollment trend & projection

Total enrollment + grade 12, NCES Common Core of Data (2021–2024).

If the recent trend holds…

At its recent rate of +9.9%/year, projecting from 2024's 73 students:

2025
80
2027
97
2029
117

An extrapolation of the recent trajectory, not a forecast of the school's plans; ignores one-off shocks.

Nearby high schools — the local competition

The closest high schools families here also consider, and where their enrollment is heading.

SchoolTypeMilesHS enrollmentTrend
Plymouth Christian School
Grand Rapids
Private 0.3 195 -2.5%
Lighthouse Academy The Pier
GRAND RAPIDS
Public · charter 0.4 7
Wellspring Preparatory High School
GRAND RAPIDS
Public · charter 0.6 267 -24.8%
Bethany Based School
GRAND RAPIDS
Public 0.9 11
Empower U
GRAND RAPIDS
Public 1.0
City High Middle School
GRAND RAPIDS
Public 1.6 599 +6.6%
Grand Rapids Montessori Academy
GRAND RAPIDS
Public 1.6
Innovation Central High
GRAND RAPIDS
Public 1.7 386 -39.8%

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