About Detroit Public Schools

Detroit Public Schools is creating Centers of Excellence in every school in every neighborhood to ensure all students perform at high academic levels. DPS offers educational advantages to students throughout the district’s schools, including expanded time for reading and mathematics under a common core curriculum, pre-algebra for 7th graders, 9 different languages and robust ESL programs, Advanced Placement courses at every high school, Fine Arts programs with instrumental music, vocal music and dance, 3 new state-of-the-art school buildings opening this fall along with millions of dollars in school building improvements districtwide, extended day opportunities, business partners for every school to help raise student achievement and safety and security enhancements.

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Information News Center

Over 300 Students with 3.5 GPAs or Higher Honored at 28th Annual Excellence Awards Banquet

Posted on May 15, 2012

Ten students with perfect 4.0 GPAs were honored. Event showcased the top 3% of DPS graduating seniors whose college choices range from Morehouse, Spelman, Harvard, Yale, Stanford, University of Southern California, Wayne State, University of Michigan and more.

Detroit Public Schools hosted the 28th Annual Excellence Awards Banquet showcasing the top 3% of the district’s graduating seniors Tuesday, May 15, 2012 at 6 p.m.

The event was held in the Cobo Center Riverview Ballroom.

More than 300 DPS students who have held a 3.5 GPA or higher during their high school careers were honored. The event honored 10 all “A” students who received the Excellence Awards Scholarship.

View the CBS news story “DPS to Honor High-Achieving Students, 10 with Perfect GPA” at: http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2012/05/15/dps-to-honor-high-achieving-students-10-with-perfect-gpa/.

Emergency Manager Roy Roberts delivered the keynote address. Karen Ridgeway, Superintendent of Academics, also addressed students.

About the Annual Excellence Awards Banquet

The end of the school year signifies a great number of ceremonies, but none is more prestigious than the annual Excellence Awards Banquet for Detroit Public Schools’ seniors with cumulative grade point averages of 3.5 or higher.

The Excellence Awards Banquet is designed to showcase the top three percent of the district’s graduating seniors. Virtually all of these students will enter college or another post-secondary education institution after high school.

Their college choices range from local universities including Wayne State University and the University of Michigan, to historical black colleges and universities including Morehouse and Spelman, to Ivy League schools such as Harvard, Yale, West Coast Stanford, University of Southern California and more.

The Excellence Awards program began in 1985. To date, 8,915 students have been honored since the program originated.

The event is sponsored by the Detroit Public Schools Foundation, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishers, Pearson Publishers, SVS Vision, Target Corp, and Spike Lawrence.


Ludington Magnet Middle re-designated as one of the nation’s “Schools to Watch” by the National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform

Posted on May 12, 2012

Michigan’s director of the Schools to Watch program, Dr. Nic Cooper, has announced three new schools to be designated this year and DPS’ Ludington Magnet Middle to be re-designated as “Schools to Watch.”

These schools are exemplars of middle level education in the state and join 9 other schools that have been designated in the past 6 years. The Schools to Watch designation is meant to convey that these schools are ones that others can visit to gain an idea of how they might improve their middle school program. The Schools to Watch program is a national recognition developed by the National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform and given to middle schools throughout the country that substantially meet a set of criteria consistent with research on middle level education.

Launched in 1999, Schools to Watch began as a national program to identify middle-grades schools across the country that were meeting or exceeding 37 criteria developed by the Forum. The Forum web site (http://www.schoolstowatch.org) features detailed information about the selection criteria. The STW process provided the framework for the successful Investing in Innovation (i3) Development grant received in October 2010 from the  U. S. Department of Education.  The National Forum’s “The Schools to Watch:  School Transformation Network” concentrates on assisting 18 persistently low performing middle grades schools in CA, IL and NC.

In 2002, the Forum began working with states to replicate the Schools to Watch program as a way to introduce the Forum’s criteria for high-performance and identify middle grades schools that meet or exceed that criteria. In 2005, Michigan joined this process and named its first three Schools to Watch. Since that time 10 other schools have been designated, and 4 have been re-designated. A school recognized as a School to Watch retains that designation for 3 years before it must re-apply for designation and demonstrate continued growth. Nationally 19 states participate and, with the addition of this year’s designees, 334 schools have been designated.

Ludington Magnet Middle is being re-designated this year!

Under the leadership of Ms. Alora Comer-Maxwell, Ludington Magnet has continued to grow since first being designated in 2008. They have developed a school where students excel, and where problems are addressed openly and decisively. They expect the best from their students and provide them with the guidance and excellent instruction to allow them to achieve at their highest level.

Dr. Deborah Kasak, National Forum Executive Director expressed her appreciation for the new designees by saying, “We are pleased that our Schools to Watch program has shown that schools can meet high academic expectations while preserving a commitment of healthy development and equity for all students. These Schools to Watch are indeed special; they make education so exciting that students and teachers don’t want to miss a day.  These schools have proven that it is possible to overcome barriers to achieving excellence, and any middle-level school in any state can truly learn from their examples.”

The National Forum sponsors the Schools to Watch program along with the Association for Middle Level Education (AMLE/formerly NMSA), the National Association for Elementary School Principals, the National Association of Secondary School Principals, Learning Forward, ASCD, and State Schools to Watch affiliates.

 

The National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform is an alliance of 65 educators, researchers, national associations, and officers of professional organizations and foundations dedicated to improving education in the middle grades.

Logan, O.W. Holmes schools join volunteers to plant 300 trees in Southwest Detroit for beautification project on their new Munger PreK to 8 campus

Posted on May 12, 2012

Volunteers from Detroit Public Schools joined Greening of Detroit to plant 300 trees in four hours for a beautification project on the campus of the new $22.3 million Munger PreK to 8 School in Southwest Detroit.

Students, parents and community members from the Logan and O.W. Holmes elementary/middle schools’ neighborhoods assisted conservation experts from Greening of Detroit to create a small orchard-like environment on the new school’s campus. The two schools will merge in the fall at the new Munger school.
Earlier this week, students from two other schools consolidating into the new $21.8 million Mackenzie PreK to 8 School, several miles away, held joint parades to their new Fall 2012 school and released 1,000 blue and white balloons.

The planting project at the new Munger school is part of an overall initiative through Greening of Detroit to establish small growth forests in the city. The maturing tree canopies will produce oxygen, cool the surrounding neighborhoods, reduce air particulates and contaminants, infiltrate storm water to reduce river and beach contamination, reestablish natural habitat and provide aesthetic benefits.

Funding for the Munger tree project is provided through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative New Growth Forest Project. The Greening of Detroit is partnering with DPS for this project as one of five projects to be completed during the Spring 2012 planting season.

MUNGER SCHOOL DETAILS

Demolition began in January 2011 on the former Munger/Chadsey complex to make way for the new $22.3 million Munger PreK to 8 School. The school is scheduled to open in the fall 2012 in a thriving section of Southwest Detroit. The school will include an elementary and middle school wing connected by a two-story student arcade that will function as a dining court, student center and school square. The school is designed to accommodate 850 students.

Munger PreK to 8 School is a part of the $500.5 million DPS Capital Improvement Program, which is building and renovating 18 DPS facilities. Munger is one of the final four schools under construction totaling $150 million in voter-approved investments that will provide some 4,600 students with brand new learning environments that are replacing older facilities.

Nearly 700 Students Showcase Talent in 43rd Annual Evening of Fine Arts at Fox Theatre

Posted on May 11, 2012

Approximately 680 Detroit Public Schools students were featured in the 43rd Annual Evening of Fine Arts event held Thursday, May 10 at the Fox Theatre.

Detroit Public Schools, SODEXO and the DPS Office of Fine Arts collaborated to present the event showcasing the work of elementary, middle, and high school students.

Click here to download the 2012 Evening of Fine Arts DVD Order Form.

Click here to view a full Program Listing for the 2012 Evening of Fine Arts.

The SOLD-OUT event, titled “An Evening of Elegance and the Arts,” featured instrumental, vocal, visual and performing arts students in performances including Detroit School of Arts Jazz Vocals-“Baroque Samba,” by Darmon Meader; Law Academy Glee Club-“Blue Skies,” by Irving Berlin; Renaissance High School Symphony Orchestra-“Duke Ellington-A Medley for Orchestra”; John R. King Academy Angelic Choral- “Hine Ma Tov”; Cass Technical High School Drama Troupe-Grand Finale-“The Color Purple Excerpts” and many more!

The event opened at 6:00 p.m. with special performances in the lobby and a beautiful student Art Gallery.

WRCJ 90.9FM, served as the Official Media Sponsor for the 2012 Evening of Fine Arts.

 

 

News & Press Releases

Upcoming Events

75th Annual Detroit Public Schools Exhibit at the DIA
4/28/2012 1:00 pm – 6/3/2012 2:00 pm

Detroit Public School League Girls' Softball Championship
5/18/2012 5:00 pm – 6:30 pm

Detroit School of Arts presents "And Still We Rise" Spring Gala
5/18/2012 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Golightly Career and Tech Agriscience Plant Sale
5/19/2012 9:00 am – 3:00 pm

Golightly Career and Technical Center Agriscience Plant Sale
5/20/2012 12:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Inside DPS
5/20/2012 7:00 pm – 7:30 pm

DC Prep is hosting the Parenting with a Purpose Workshop in collaboration with Detroit Parent Network
5/22/2012 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Detroit Public School League Baseball Championships
5/23/2012 5:00 pm – 6:30 pm

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