Demographics report on Clearbrook, MN and Local High School.

Submitted by Michael Illies on June 4, 2010

City /Town	Data found	Challenges	Strategies
A. SES issues	10% of people are below poverty line. No registered sex offenders, and crime rate is very low.	Many families are on tight budgets and both parents may be working. Students may not be able to afford supplies.	Design lessons to avoid costly supplies, be careful to make sure everyone has what they need and are healthy (breakfast, etc.) so learning can take place.
B. Ethnic Origins	46% Norweigan, 17% Germans, 15% Swedish, 6% English, and 3% Native Amercan	Community is not very diverse. Little exposure (perhaps even resistance to) to other cultures.	Always take advantage of opportunities to discuss other cultures, their contributions, and their view of topics being taught.
C. Recent Immigrants	Immigration is very low and sporatic, but recently includes some Amish people	Only recent immigrants are fairly isolated from community by their choice.	Discuss the views and opinions of recent immigrants and reasons they do the things they do (avoid electricity, live simply, etc)
D. Temporary Residents	Communting contruction workers and a few migrant farm workers	General suspicion of migrants, commuting construction workers create a transitory group of students (although this is a small group)	Make every effort to make transitory students feel welcome and be careful to address discrimination issues. Discuss the reasons for bias and how the migrants often see the community as hostile.
E. Religious stats	~75% Luthern, 13% Catholic, 13% other (had trouble finding out what "other" included.	Not really interested in or simpathetic to other religious views, especially Asian or Middle Eastern religions.	Discuss other religions and how beliefs influence attitudes toward topics being discuss in lesson. (Science classes)
F. Education level profile	72% high school grad, 11% Bachelor's or higher, 1.5% graduate degree	Most HS education is not considered all that important. Students who want to go on to college are not often encouraged due to cost and biases.	Encourage students to chase higher education. Discuss the importance of education to the student's future.
H. Average household size	two	Shrinking student body means small classes and reduction in teaching staff, meaning loss of specialists	Make every effort to become a "general specialist" becoming certified in multiple areas to be able to teach more subjects
I. Average income level	Average was $25,000 per year.	Below state average income	Keep costs in mind for projects and school assignments or club activities.

SCHOOL/DISTRICT		Challenges	Strategies
A. SES issues	Similar to above, 43% qualify for free or reduced lunch	Similar to above.	Similar to above.
B. Ethnic Origins	78% non-Hispanic white, 19% Native American	Due to open enrollment, the student body has a larger percentage of Native Americans that the community at large.	Be vigilant in helping local kids and out of district kids relate to each other and their unique individual situations.
C. Recent Immigrants	same as above	Similar to above.	Similar to above.
D. Temporary Residents	same as above	Similar to above.	Similar to above.
E. Religious stats	same as above	Similar to above.	Similar to above.
F. Teacher Pupil Ratio	14 students per teacher	Ratio is adequate and don't percieve any challenge.	None needed
G. Special Services Ratio	17% students have IEP	Likely will have high percentage of special needs students in most classes.	Will need to be viligant in planning lessons with IEP's in mind. Will start communications early and often with parents and counselors to promote student success.
H. Paraprofessionals	14 on staff	Seems to be adequate support	None needed
I. Assistant Principals	1	Seems to be adequate support	None needed
J. Gender stats of staff	Gender of teachers appears to be fairly evenly split in high school between male and female. Secretaries are mostly female and administration seems to be pretty evenly mixed.	Seems to be nice even ratio	None needed
K. Medical issues	none noted, but from experience know of diabetics	Need to be aware of medical situations that may not be listed in student information.	Develop rapport with students, read student histories, and talk to previous teachers to get information before any problem might occur.
L. Age of teachers, administrators, secretaries	Age varies widely, but appears to be an average around 38-40yrs.	May be some clashes between very young and very old teachers (differences of philosophy)	Built rapport with staff and avoid gossips and caustic personalities as much as possible.

Analysis:

The local town and school district is a smaller rural area school with a population of mostly non-Hispanic white people who typically have a long family history in the area. An interesting development is that the local population is 3% Native American, while the school population is 27% Native American. This is due to an open enrollment policy and the nearby Red Lake school having gang and violence issues that lead to Natives coming long distance to a safer school. Otherwise the school is not very diverse and it would take extra effort for the teacher to make sure students are taught how to deal with different cultures and religions. The area has a higher than average number of student with IEPs, Perhaps requiring extra training in dealing with various disabilities. The typical family is small (two children) and has a lower than state average income. Overall, the local community is a hard working collection of eople with similar backgrounds. The school is considered safe and while not offering too many extra electives, has a decent program. I think the biggest challenge would be overcoming prejudices toward other cultures that the students have little or no experience with.