A new smiling face has joined us here in East Grand Rapids. Meet our new assistant principal…Mr. Noordhoek!

Mr. Noordhoek previously worked at a school in Beaver Island, which is a small island in northern Michigan, right by Mackinac Island. He was a social studies teacher at a school for at-risk students.

“When I graduated from college in 2008, there were really no teaching jobs available. So, I was desperate to find a job, and my wife had lived on Beaver Island when she was younger,” Justin Noordhoek began. 

“I applied for that job at a very unique school. It was residential, so the students lived there. It was at-risk students who had really maybe had problems with the law or failed out of their previous high school and were in need of a final chance to graduate high school,” Noordhoek said.

Assistant Principal Noordhoek made strong connections with his students, who were from all over Michigan.

“[The students] lived from about Muskegon, northward, but then they came to Beaver Island for a new environment, a residential school, and a different experience,” he said.

 “During the day, I would teach, at night I would go back to a cabin with the students, and I was their cabin counselor. We formed really strong relationships,” Noordhoek continued. 

This job in Beaver Island was the kick-off to Noordhoek’s experience in the education field. Other than teaching, though, our assistant principal has some fascinating hobbies.

“I love to bowl and ride my bike. I do a lot of biking in the summertime.” Noordhoek said.

Noordhoek described biking as his source of relaxation. He loves to explore all kinds of bike trails. He specified he loves to ride a lot of the Kent Trails.

He also said that he will sometimes ride his bike from Grandville to Byron Center, Millennium Park, and through Grand Rapids, including the old Butterworth dump.

Aside from biking, Noordhoek loves to spend time with his wife, Sarah, his 13-year-old daughter Brianna, and his 9-year-old son Aiden.

Noordhoek is grateful for the tight-knit community behind him in Beaver Island, and looking forward to what’s ahead at East. 

“I was really excited to come here because I am used to very close-knit communities. I think East Grand Rapids kind of has that feel where people know each other, and the community is very invested in the school, those strong connections. I am also really excited about the academic excellence and tradition of academic excellence that exists here,” Noordhoek concluded.

If you see Mr. Noordhoek in the hallways at school, make sure to say hello. He is looking forward to meeting everybody and being a part of this new community.