About Detroit Public Schools

Detroit Public Schools is creating Centers of Excellence in every school in every neighborhood. The district’s primary mission is educating students to perform at high academic levels. DPS offers educational advantages to students throughout the district’s 130 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, 10 new state-of-the-art school buildings or major renovations 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

DSA-West Langston Hughes Academy held a Grand Opening today for its enhanced Parent Resource Center

Posted on January 30, 2012

DSA-West Langston Hughes Academy today held a Grand Opening for its newly-enhanced Parent Resource Center.

The room, which is equipped with an interactive white board, computers, resources for parents and children, academic toolkits and more, has been relocated to a larger space adjacent to the school’s main office to accommodate more parents attending workshops. The site is designed to serve parents whose children attend a number of schools in the northwest corner of the school district.

The Parent Resource Center is also a new Gleaners Community Food Bank distribution site, and the center hosted its first food distribution event.

The Center is located at DSA-West Langston Hughes Academy, 19501 Berg Road. The event included a  Budgeting Workshop, Love and Logic Workshop, Focus Group, Fun Science Art and Craft Activity and food distribution for those who pre-registered.

About DPS Parent Resource Centers

Our parent resource centers are comfortable community gathering spaces equipped with multiple computers, phones, sofas, small libraries, play areas for children, check-out academic tool kits and more. The centers offer expert-led workshops, child care, GED support, job training, support groups, MEAP assistance, book clubs, sessions on Title I programs, college information, coffee talks on parent engagement and other offerings. The spaces are designed to involve, connect and empower parents to help children reach academic success and serve as a hub for training and resources.

DPS completes relocation of offices from leased space

Posted on January 30, 2012

Detroit Public Schools today completed the relocation of 45 offices from New Center leased space to locations already owned by the district, eliminating 98,400 square feet of office space and reducing annual rent obligations. Offices formerly spread across twelve floors in four buildings have moved into seven floors of the Fisher Building and other underutilized space in school buildings and an existing support services complex.

“These moves save resources and create a scenario that better reflects the space needs to service parents and schools with a central office staff that has greatly reduced over the years,” commented Emergency Manager Roy S. Roberts. “Just as importantly, this allows for better communication and work flow among departments, many of whom either never saw each other or spent time moving across several buildings.”

Major offices that generate public and/or DPS employee traffic and their new locations include:

 

  • Human Resources incl. Employee Health Services and Compensation & Benefits: 10th Floor Fisher Bldg.
  • Labor Relations: 10th Floor Fisher Bldg.
  • Academic curricular departments such as Athletics, Mathematics, Fine Arts and 10 others: 9th Floor Fisher Bldg.
  • Communications: 10th Floor Fisher Bldg.
  • Detroit Public Schools Foundation: 10th Floor Fisher Bldg.
  • General Counsel: 10th Floor Fisher Bldg.
  • Parent Involvement: 6th Floor Fisher Bldg.
  • Professional Development will relocate to the Harris Building where many workshops and programs currently occur. Harris is located at 3700 Pulford.
  • Relocating to the east and south wings of DPS’ Frederick Douglass Academy for Young Men, 2001 W. Warren, now designed to serve as a Student Services & Data Management Complex, are these offices: Social Work, Psychological Services, Communications Disorders, Student Intervention and Special Education, as well as Pupil Population Management and Student Information Systems. Relocating to the south wing at Frederick Douglass are the Offices of the Detroit Board of Education.
  • The Parent Resource Center housed at New Center is in the process of relocating to a centrally located school, Detroit International Academy for Young Women, which will provide users convenient access along the city’s most traveled bus route. That move will be completed shortly.

A complete listing of all office locations is here: DPS Final Department Relocation Chart

Parent Engagement is Up!

Posted on January 20, 2012

From the Free Press’ Rochelle Riley:

After years of trying to increase the number of Detroit parents who are involved with the schools and their children’s education, DPS has finally found a way:

The district hired the Detroit Parent Network, which has spent two years creating parent resource centers and training parents in efforts to connect those who raise children with those who teach them. The result is that a third more parents attended parent-teacher conferences and parent meetings in DPS schools last year than the year before. The district also has seen increases in requests for homework hotlines and money-management classes.

Network President Sharlonda Buckman said they have used the parent resource centers to teach parents that their children’s schools should be their homes away from home. To that end, the centers have become places where parents could get everything from coffee to computer lessons, from English as a Second Language classes to help with tax returns. They have support groups for grandparents and teen parents as well as financial management and literacy support.

Read the full story at:

Rochelle Riley: DPS hires Detroit Parent Network, which helps parents learn to help their kids

Send your thoughts and anecdotes on improving parent engagement to communications@detroitk12.org. Post ideas on Facebook at our Facebook Fan Page

From Cass Tech Principal Lisa Phillips:

Our parents patrol morning/afternoon traffic every morning to make sure our students are safe when crossing Second Avenue in heavy traffic. They volunteer in the building working front desk and in the counseling dept, and they are the welcome committee when needed.  I call-they are here! They work every athletic game from season to season providing food, counseling, transportation and more. Our parents chaperone every field trip or school events both in and out of the city. They even march with our marching band at every event — over 30 marching sessions a year. They support our stakeholders committee monthly meetings. In fact, we have
parents in our building every day doing something wonderful!

DPS and community celebrate legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Posted on January 16, 2012

The community on Monday, January 16, 2012 celebrated the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. during the3rd Annual MLK Legacy March.

The event included a rally, guided tours, skits and panel discussions at Martin Luther King Jr. Senior High School, 3200 E. Lafayette, Detroit, 48207.

As the nation celebrates the 83rd anniversary of the birth of Dr. King, the Legacy March provided the Detroit Metropolitan Community an opportunity to keep his dream alive.

This year’s theme was “Dreaming ahead… Building the road to the future with the stones of our past.” Event organizers hoped the march would allow students and members of the community to experience one of the nonviolent methods used to advance change.

More than 3,000 people were expected to participate, including students and staff from throughout the district, members of the Mayor’s Office and Detroit City Council, DPS Emergency Manager Roy Roberts, legislators, Eastern High School alumni, local sororities and fraternities, the Freemasons, Eastern Stars, UAW, supporters from the Tri-County area, and many others.

The event included panel discussions, exhibits, guided tours and skits commemorating the era of the March will take place inside of the school. Videos also were shown in the new MLK Center.

On display, too: the renovated Martin Luther King Jr. Senior High School, a state-of-the-art facility emphasizing a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Curriculum. The new $46.4 million building replaced the existing high school and opened in the fall of 2011. It boasts a cyber café and media center to connect to the current auditorium and performing arts building.

Event Highlights:

  • Birmingham Jail Cell Exhibit
  • Central High School skit with barking dogs and water hoses
  • “Strange Fruit” in the Jim Crow Era
  • Voting Booths
  • Rosa Parks Bus Boycott
  • Motown Music
  • Detroit Auto Displays
  • Focus Home/Capuchin Soup Kitchen

“This event brings calm to the city,” said Deborah Jenkins, Principal of King High School.  “Considering how this event has grown in the past three years, we know that Detroiters care.  We all want to ensure that our students know their history, and this is one way to keep our history alive.”

Jenkins said she wanted the event to conclude by noon to allow students the opportunity to attend other initiatives taking place throughout the city in honor of Dr. King.  In turn, the students will receive service points.

 

 

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