The new Detroit public school district has a new academic plan.
The Detroit Public Schools Community District got a fiscal overhaul after nearly going bankrupt last year.
Now, Interim Superintendent Alycia Meriweather says it will take a fresh approach to teaching and learning, too.
Meriweather unveiled a new academic plan to students at the Benjamin Carson High School of Science and Medicine Friday. She told them the goal is for all Detroit high schools to center around “career clusters.”
“You are having work-based experience. You are having conversations around content and careers. And all of that is getting you ready for what you’re going to do next. What we want to see is this type of experience across all high schools.”]
But it goes beyond that. Meriweather says the district will provide so-called “wraparound services.”
Things like “washers and dryers at schools. Sometimes we have students who don’t have water at their house, they don’t have a washing machine at their house.
“Well, that would be a barrier to coming to school, because you don’t want to come to school if you don’t have clean clothes.”
The plan also sets benchmarks for improving student test scores, and reducing chronic absenteeism.
