Jordan Tress

Dr. Madrazo
ED-299
April 24, 2022
Prairie Ridge High School; School and Community Analysis

For my School and Community Analysis project, I decided to dive deeper into the behind-the-

scenes perspective of Prairie Ridge High School (PRHS) in Crystal Lake, Illinois. I chose this

school because it happens to be the high school I graduated from; in the community I grew up in.

I understand that the goal was to analyze a community other than my own, however, because I

fully intend on returning to Crystal Lake post-college and teaching within Community High

School District 155 (where PRHS is located). Crystal Lake is in the northwest suburbs of the

Chicago Metropolitain area.

The community itself has a lot of things that make it desirable for families to live. There

are a variety of store types from retail, to food, to entertainment, both chain and local places. The

community also houses a library and tutoring centers like Mathnasium. There are several local

parks including Veteran Acres, Woodscreek Park, Spoerl Park, Woodland Estates, and more!

Many of these parks include playgrounds for kids as well as several walking paths for people of

all ages. True to its name, Crystal Lake is home to Crystal Lake, a popular summertime spot for

families to enjoy a playground, multiple beach spots, and the water itself, the average home

value is around $230,000 and most people in Crystal Lake own their own home with just 24% as

renters within the community. There are also several religious centers such as Willow Creek

Community Church, First Congregational Church, The Evangelical Free Church of Crystal Lake,

and more. One thing to note about Crystal Lake is that it often caters for the majority. For

example, nearly all the religious organizations are for those of Catholic or Christian
denominations and with little to nothing for the Jewish, Muslim, and Islamic communities of

people in the town. This disparity in majority vs minority is present throughout the community,

including the schools.

All the members in the district 155 school board are members of the community

including president Adam Guss and Vice President Jason Blake. The other board members

include Amy Blazier, Ron Ludwig, Nicole Pavoris, Dave Secrest, Tom Vaclavek. For many of

the board members, their children attended District 155 schools. Board member Ron Ludwig is

also the former principal of Hannah Beardsley Middle School, one of the middle schools in

district 47 which include the elementary and middle schools that feed into the district 155 school

system, meaning that he has an inside perspective on the things needed to run a school. Because

these board members are all involved with the community and/or their children have attended

District 155 schools, they are able to attain the knowledge needed to make improvements to the

school system. However, this school board significantly lacks representation of minority

communities such as the Black and Hispanic communities as all these board members are white.

This contributes to any disparities there may be in the classrooms due to this lack of

representation of other cultures present within the schools.

Within Crystal Lake, there are ten public elementary schools, four public middle schools,

three public high schools, two private elementary/middle schools, and one private high school.

Most students in Crystal Lake attend public schools from K-12. Some attend private school up

until eighth grade and then attend public high school, and even fewer attend private schools from

K-12.

To dive deeper into Prairie Ridge High School, the demographic population is not

diverse. Out of 1,219 students, 86% are white, 9% are Hispanic, 3% are Asian, 1% are black, and
less that 1% are native American/pacific islander. Teacher demographics are eerily similar with

95% of teachers being white. This again leads to a lack of representation of diverse cultures

which makes being a culturally responsive school more difficult. The demographics of students

with IEP’s are proportionate to this number as well, indicating all students who need this

resource are getting it. However, there is a significant achievement gap in terms of standardized

testing. There is a 36% achievement gap for low-income students. The district’s school system is

failing low-income students and this gap indicates the need for change. PRHS does offer twenty

Advanced Placement (AP) courses, eleven dual-credit courses as well as four world languages.

The AP courses, however, are geared towards honors students who complete work at a higher

academic level. Because of this, the gap increases since low-income students are less likely to

attain the skills needed to be successful in these higher-level classes.

The average student expenditure at PRHS is around $15.5K and the district works to try

and provide students with necessary resources. The average teacher at PRHS makes around

$104K which is much higher than the state average. Crystal Lake has areas that are affluent, and

this carries over into the salaries of teachers since they make so much higher on average than

others in the state.

Prairie Ridge, on average, follows many typical practices for a high school such as the

traditional 9-12 grades and a semester schedule. PRHS also tends to put a lot of pressure on their

students to follow the typical path for a student. They often fail to recognize that students do not

always want to go to college after high school. There are some vocational programs such as

wood shop classes, autos classes, culinary arts classes, and fashion classes. Despite the presence

of these programs and different class opportunities, the college pathway is still most heavily
emphasized. McHenry County College is also located in Crystal Lake is another advertised

popular option for post-high school students.

Despite this, the school does have its student’s best interests at heart with the motto

“Enter with promise, leave with purpose.” This motto shows that the school cares about the

success of their students and I personally was able to receive the support I needed, however, I

recognize that for minority students, their needs my not always be met due to the lack of

diversity and cultural awareness within the school itself.