Tagged: dps

More than 100 students were suspended from Detroit’s Western International High School this week.

Those students were part of a group that walked out of school to protest district policies, and what they say is a poor-quality education.

Now, some of the students are setting up what they’re calling a “freedom school” to attend while they’re suspended.

Raychel Gafford says she was suspended for a week—and ticketed by police—after she helped lead the walkout.

About 600 Detroit Public Schools students will visit the Detroit Grand Prix in June.

Before their visit, they’ll spend a few weeks learning about racing-related science and math concepts. They’ll then get a chance to apply those skills at the real racetrack, during events at the Grand Prix.

Grand Prix’s event chairman Bud Denker says this won’t just be a “field trip” for the students.

“Those racecars go pretty fast," Denker told students at Detroit's Emerson Elementary on Tuesday. "They go about 220 miles an hour. And to get that fast you need to have a lot of science, a lot of math, a lot of engineering, and a lot of technology."

Monday was the last day for parents of Detroit Public Schools students to pick schools for their children.

The district has a citywide open enrollment policy this year.

Parents who want to send their kids to schools outside their neighborhood can rank their preferred schools. The district takes that into consideration when placing kids.

Sonya Smith, a DPS parent who also works at the Parent Resource Center at Osborn High School, says the district has made the whole process easier for parents this year.

“They were able to have a first, second, and third choice, and only one place to turn the paperwork in, and not having to go to each school," Smith said.

Detroit Public Schools Emergency Manager Roy Roberts laid out his latest plan for how to turn the cash-strapped district around and help students improve.

Here are the three main components of the turnaround:

1. Turn the DPS central office into more of a business that sells services and supplies to schools.
2. Transform 10 existing high schools into “charter-esque” schools.
3. Have all schools follow the same set of common accountability standards

You can read the full DPS Action Plan here.

A new talk radio show hits the airwaves tonight. It's called "Can U Relate?" and it's produced by and for Detroit Public School students.

Ania McKoy is a junior at Detroit School of Arts, and is one of the handful of DPS students working on the new show. She says each episode of "Can U Relate?" will tackle a different topic - like teen pregnancy, bullying, homophobia.

McKoy says teens will be able to turn on the show and hear other teens going through similar experiences, and that they "have advice that they can give and they want to share" with whoever's listening. "That would be something I hope everybody takes away from this show – that all of us, we’re just alike."

The Detroit Public School system will shrink again next fall, as the district scrambles to revamp itself amidst declining enrollment.

This is just the latest in several waves of restructuring, as the district must constantly re-adjust to a student population that shrinks every year—and has fallen about 60% overall since 2000, from more than 167,000 students to about 69,000.

The district will close 16 school buildings this time around, though some students will move into four new buildings (see the full list here).