Changes: Baxter Christian School, Grand Rapids, Michigan

Revision as of 14:24, 9 August 2018

Baxter-community-ctr — Baxter Community Center (formerly Baxter Christian School)

Baxter Christian School, located at 935 Baxter Street SE in Grand Rapids, Michigan, was an early independent Christian school to meet the needs of its community. It merged with Oakdale Christian School in 1963 and closed its doors in 1969.

Section heading

Begun by Eastern Avenue Christian Reformed Church in 1881 as a parochial school to meet the needs of its own children, Baxter Christian School became an independent school with its own board in 1898. This allowed it to draw from a wider base, and after Eastern Ave. CRC was divided by the common grace controversy, Protestant Reformed children attended as well.

The school taught exclusively in Dutch until 1892, when it began to teach children "at least 9 years of age" in English. Dutch instruction was discontinued in 1917, possibly due to World War I and confusion of Dutch vs. Deutch. (Some churches that still had Dutch worship services were burned during this era.)

Baxter originally served as an elementary school and junior high school covering grades 1 through 8, but by the mid-1960s it was forced to close off the top story of the building due to fire code, eliminating the junior high component.

A one-story wing was added on the west side of the building in 1951 with rooms for grades K-2, the school office, and a small nurse's office, an by the late 1960s it covered only grades K-5.

Baxter Christian joined with Oakdale Christian School to form United Christian Schools in 1963 and closed its doors at the end of the 1968/69 school year. It has since been the home of Baxter Community Center.

Sources

Eastern Avenue and Baxter, 1920-1950, Origins, Fall 1996, Heritage Hall, Calvin College

@@ Line 6: / Line 6: @@
 Begun by [[Eastern Avenue Christian Reformed Church, Grand Rapids, Michigan|Eastern Avenue Christian Reformed Church]] in 1881 as a parochial school to meet the needs of its own children, Baxter Christian School became an independent school with its own board in 1898. This allowed it to draw from a wider base, and after Eastern Ave. CRC was divided by [[Herman Hoeksema|the common grace controversy]], [[First Protestant Reformed Church, Grand Rapids, Michigan|Protestant Reformed]] children attended as well.
-The school taught exclusively in Dutch until 1892, when it began to teach children "at least 9 years of age" in English.
+The school taught exclusively in Dutch until 1892, when it began to teach children "at least 9 years of age" in English. Dutch instruction was discontinued in 1917, possibly due to World War I and confusion of Dutch vs. Deutch. (Some churches that still had Dutch worship services were burned during this era.)
 [[File:Baxter-christian-school-art.jpg|thumb|220x220px]]
 Baxter originally served as an elementary school and junior high school covering grades 1 through 8, but by the mid-1960s it was forced to close off the top story of the building due to fire code, eliminating the junior high component.
-A one-story wing was added on the west side of the bulding in 1951 with rooms for grades K-2, the school office, and a small nurse's office, an by the late 1960s it covered only grades K-5.
+A one-story wing was added on the west side of the building in 1951 with rooms for grades K-2, the school office, and a small nurse's office, an by the late 1960s it covered only grades K-5.
 Baxter Christian joined with [[Oakdale Christian School, Grand Rapids, Michigan|Oakdale Christian School]] to form United Christian Schools in 1963 and closed its doors at the end of the 1968/69 school year. It has since been the home of [http://www.baxtercommunitycenter.org/ Baxter Community Center].