Angela McGee

The Demographic Page

Burris Laboratory School is a public laboratory school founded and administered by The
Ball State University Teachers College in Muncie, Indiana. Burris Laboratory School is the only
school of its kind in Muncie and consequently is the only school in its school district, the Burris
Laboratory School District. As of the 2014-2015 school year, there are 621 students enrolled in
the school. The grade levels offered at Burris span kindergarten through twelfth grade. The
majority of the students are in the elementary grades, then middle school, and finally the fewest
in high school.
Since Burris Laboratory School is located on the edge of Ball State University's campus,
and near Ball Memorial Hospital, many of the students are affiliated with community medical
professionals and educators. Burris attracts students from a limited selection of cultural
backgrounds and economical statuses. There are 487 students who are Caucasian, making up
nearly 79% of the school population. The other 21% is made up of Multiracial students (44),
African American students (35), Asian students (35), Hispanic students (18), and American
Indian students (2). Much like the cultural background of the students, the economical
background is not widespread. More than half of the students pay for their lunch (480 students,
79%). The 88 students who receive free lunch make 14%, while 43 students equaling 7% percent
of the school population get a reduced lunch rate.
Burris Laboratory School has a music faculty made up of three educators. The 6 main
musical subjects taught at Burris are general music, music appreciation, choir, band and
orchestra. The responsibilities of these 6 programs are shared between the music faculty with
each instructor teaching more than one musical subject.
The high school orchestra class is comprised of 21 students, grades 9-12. There are 8
freshman, 3 sophomores, 8 juniors and 2 senior. Of these students, 12 are boys and 9 are girls.
There are 17 Caucasian students, 2 African American students, 1 Hispanic student and 1 Asian
student. The music theory class has 7 students grade 10 and 11. There are 4 girls and 3 boys.
There is one Hispanic student and 7 Caucasian students. The middle school general music class
has 25 students enrolled in it. 21 of the students are boys and 4 of the students are girls. There are
2 African American students and 23 Caucasian students in this class. The middle school
orchestra is consists of 24 students as well: 11 boys, 13 girls. There are 2 Indian American
students, 1 Asian American student and 21 Caucasian students. The fifth grade strings class has
10 students in it. There are 2 boys and 8 girls. There is 1 Indian American student and 7
Caucasian students. There are 2 sections of fourth grade strings classes. Combined, there are 14
fourth grade students. 5 students are boys and 9 students are girls. In these classes, the is only 1
Asian American student and 13 Caucasian students. There are 2 third grade classes. Together,
these classes have twenty-six students. There are 6 boys and twenty girls. There are 2 Asian
students, 1 multiracial student, 1 African American student, 1 Indian American student and 21
Caucasian students. There is also 1 student with special needs. The second grade strings class has

2 sections as well. All together, there are 31 students. 13 of the students are boys and 18 are girls.
There are 3 Indian American students, 1 Asian American student, 1 African American student
and 26 Caucasian students. There are 2 groups of first grade students also, adding up to 37
students. Of these students, there is 1 Multiracial student, 1 African American student and 1
Indian American student, and 34 Caucasian students. There is also 1 student with special needs
in this class. An aid accompanies this student to and through class.
Burris has a traditional school schedule; students have the same classes at the same time
everyday. Specifically in music however, high school and middle school students have their
preferred music course everyday, while the elementary school students have music twice and
week. Grades K-3 have general music and orchestra up until fourth grade where the student then
has the choice to choose choir, orchestra or band exclusively.