Every school within the Mecosta-Osceola Intermediate School District, which includes the districts of Big Rapids, Reed City, Evart, Chippewa Hills, and Morley-Stanwood, participates in the Schools of Choice plan. The Schools of Choice plan allows a student and his or her parents to choose which school they would like to attend, regardless of where they live. Every year, each individual district decides whether or not to accept non-resident students, with their decisions being printed in the local papers. However, it is the parent's responsibility, not the school's, to provide transportation for the student should he or she decide to attend a school outside of their district of residency.

The Big Rapids Public Schools begin with Eastwood Early Child Development Center, which not only provides a pre-school for 4-year-olds, but also is the city's sole public kindergarten. After kindergarten, parents have the choice of enrolling their child in Riverview, Brookside or Hillcrest elementary schools. Each school offers classes for grades 1^st through 5^th. Students will then move to the Big Rapids Middle School for grades 6 through 8 and on to the Big Rapids High School for the remainder of their primary education. The Big Rapids High School, which competes in Class B, offers athletics such as baseball, boys' and girls' basketball, boys' and girls' cross country, boys' and girls' golf, football, hockey, boys' and girls' soccer, softball, boys' and girls' tennis, boys' and girls' track, volleyball, and wrestling. The Big Rapids Public Schools also runs the New Directions High School, which offers students a number of non-traditional methods of obtaining credits.

 Big Rapids Public Schools also offer parents an online communication tool called Family Access, a computer program that allows parents to access their child's records concerning attendance, grades, discipline, and other information.

 The Big Rapids area also offers Crossroads Charter Academy, a K-12 school that provides an alternative to the public school system. Crossroads offers athletics such as football, baseball, boys' & girls' basketball, cross country, boys' and girls' soccer, track & field, and girls' volleyball.

 St. Mary's Elementary and St. Peter's Lutheran are two private schools in the Big Rapids area that offer an additional option to the public schools. However, both St. Mary's and St. Peter's only cover pre-school through 8^th grade.

Here are the addresses and phone numbers of the Big Rapids Schools including links to their sites. If you are unsure which school district you live in here is a link to the State of Michigan's School District by County page:

http://www.michigan.gov/cgi/0,1607,7-158-12540_13084-100538--,00.html

Big Rapids Public Schools Administrative Office

21034 15 Mile Rd.

Big Rapids, MI 49307

(231) 796-2627

http://www.brps.us

Big Rapids High School

21175 15 Mile Rd.

Big Rapids, MI 49307

(231) 796-7651

http://www.brps.k12.mi.us/highschool/

Riverview Elementary

509 Willow Street 

Big Rapids, MI 49307

(231) 796-2550

http://www.brps.k12.mi.us/riverview/

Brookside Elementary

210 Escott Street

Big Rapids, MI 49307

(231) 796-8323

http://www.brps.k12.mi.us/brookside/

Hillcrest Elementary

510 W. Bridge Street

Big Rapids, MI 49307

(231) 796-6234

http://www.brps.k12.mi.us/hillcrest/

Big Rapids Middle School

500 N. Warren Street

Big Rapids, MI 49307

(231) 796-9965

http://www.brps.k12.mi.us/midsch/

New Directions High School

14980 215^th Ave.

Big Rapids, MI 49307

(231) 796-3489

http://www.brps.k12.mi.us/newdir/

Eastwood Early Childhood Center

410 N. Third Ave.

Big Rapids, MI 49307

(231) 796-5556

http://www.brps.k12.mi.us/eastwood/

Crossroads Charter Academy School

K-6th  grade   215 N. State St.    (231) 796-6589

7-12th grade   215 W. Spruce     (231) 796-9041

http://www.ccabr.org/

St. Mary's Elementary

927 Marion Street

Big Rapids, MI 49307

(231) 796-6731

http://www.stmarybr.org/

St. Peter's Lutheran

408 W. Bellevue Street

Big Rapids, MI 49307

(231) 796-8782

http://stpetersbr.com//

Big Rapids Head Start

514 Woodward Street

Big Rapids, MI 49307

(231) 592-9955

Click here to return to home page