What To Know And Where To Go In Southeast Michigan
More than two dozen struggling Detroit schools will likely be added to the state’s “partnership” program after posting years of rock-bottom test scores. That will bring to 50 the number of Detroit schools in the program, which requires schools to meet certain improvement targets or face consequences. Those consequences could include closure or a staff shake-up but, for …
When the school year began at Detroit’s Central High School last month, a beloved teacher was missing. Quincy Stewart, who was featured in a June Chalkbeat story about his innovative use of music to teach students about African-American history, had been determined to stay at Central. “I do this is because I’m a black man and these are black children,” he told Chalkbeat …
A lawsuit filed nearly a year ago over the conditions in Detroit schools had its first day in court Thursday, but it could be a month before a judge rules whether it can proceed. The suit, filed in September on behalf of seven Detroit students, argues that Gov. Rick Snyder and state education officials have deprived city students of their right to literacy by not spending …
When new Detroit schools chief Nikolai Vitti arrives in Detroit as soon as next Monday, he plans to make daily school visits with an early focus on some of the city’s most struggling schools. Those visits will include trips to the schools in the state-run Education Achievement Authority, which are set to return to the Detroit district this summer amid deep …
Stefanie Kovaleski loves teaching kindergarten at Detroit’s Bethune Elementary-Middle School. “I love this building. I love the kids in it,” she said as she doled out hugs and high-fives to her young students while they lined up to get their backpacks at dismissal. “I love that I have autonomy and that I’m treated with professionalism here.” She hopes to stay in her …
When Pershing High School opened in 1930, it was designed to serve more than 2,200 students in what was then a fast-growing part of the city’s east side. Today, the school serves just 314 kids. That means Pershing is more than 85 percent empty. It’s a similar story at Southeastern High School, Davis Aerospace High School and scores of other schools across the city that now …
Some of Detroit’s most celebrated selective schools saw their standings plunge on the state’s most recent school rankings. Renaissance High School was one of the highest ranked schools on Michigan’s 2014 Top to Bottom schools list, scoring in the 98th percentile, better than 98 percent of state schools. But when the state in January released its latest ranking, based on 2016 …
A sophisticated new enrollment tool that was supposed to make signing up for school easier in Detroit won’t be of much use to the thousands of families whose children could be displaced by upcoming school closures. Despite the more than $700,000 and countless hours of planning that went into creating a single application for Detroit’s competing district and charter schools, …
Detroiters are only now absorbing the reality of potentially losing 25 struggling schools and trying to figure out where as many as 12,000 displaced students would go if their school is shut down at the end of the school year. This map, which was shared at a meeting of educators and community leaders on Wednesday, shows Detroit schools by a state ranking that measures …
The state of Michigan Friday put 38 struggling schools on notice. After years of rock-bottom test scores and disappointing results, the schools were informed that they’re in serious danger of having to shut their doors forever in June. “Because we want all kids to have a good life after high school, our office is responsible for taking action when schools have been …
It was four days into the two-week enrollment period for the new Detroit Prep charter school and Kyle Smitley was starting to worry. Smitley, the school’s co-founder, had opened Detroit Prep in September with grand ambitions of building the city’s first truly diverse charter school. She had embraced an idea that’s gained momentum across the country as educators have …
Three weeks into the school year at Spain Elementary-Middle School, the teachers are starting to get used to their new classes. Students are starting to get back into the swing of things. And now it’s time for something unexpected: A PR blitz. The school in Detroit’s midtown neighborhood last year became a symbol of everything that was wrong with Detroit Public …
The federal civil rights lawsuit filed this week on behalf of a Detroit school kids isn’t likely to bring a quick fix to Detroit’s troubled schools. Even successful lawsuits can take years to wend their way through the courts. But as Detroit tries to turn things around with a new school district, the suit paints a bleak picture of what officials are up against. The 136-page …
It was the first day of school at the Mumford Academy high school and principal Nir Saar was working the hallways, shaking hands, introducing himself to new students. “There’s the football star!” he said as he greeted a returning 10th-grader. “How you doing, Mr. Varsity?” He high-fived a girl as she walked by. “I missed you, Zakiya!” he exclaimed. “How you been?” “I …
Dozens of low-performing Detroit schools that faced possible closure next spring may have gotten a stay of execution from Gov. Rick Snyder this week — but some city charter schools are still on the hot seat. Snyder has said low-performing schools should close. But an aide said this week that the governor had accepted the opinion of attorneys with the Miller Canfield law firm: …
Eight months after hundreds of Detroit teachers made national headlines by calling in sick to draw attention to deplorable conditions like rodents and buckling floors in public schools, city officials today announced that they’ve spent $2.5 million to get most city schools into tip-top shape ahead of the start of classes next week. At a press conference at the elite Bates …
School district borders often divide students by income — and in Detroit and many other places across the U.S., that gulf is especially wide. That is the conclusion reached in a report released Tuesday by EdBuild, a nonprofit dedicated to overhauling the way states fund education. The report looked at neighboring school systems and found that the poverty rate can be eight …
Many of us carry our own little library with us. It’s called a Nook or a Kindle or one of the other e-readers. Mine’s a Nook. When I open it up sayings appear. One of them is a quote from Cicero, “A room without a book is like a body without a soul.” Reading books brings whole new worlds to life and sets the stage for future success. Unfortunately, the reading statistics for …
Before you know it, the school year will be here. With that in mind, there are a lot of kids who need school supplies. To help out, Health Alliance Plan (HAP) is partnering with the Detroit Public Schools Community District (that's what the former Detroit Public Schools are now called) to help students and teachers prepare for the upcoming school year by hosting a …
Today’s episode of your Daily Detroit dives into Dan Gilbert’s Quicken Loans — or Rocket Companies, as they’re going to be called moving forward — filing for an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange. It’s not often that happens in Metro Detroit. An IPO is not a regular thing around here. So …
