Michigan Takes a Step Toward Small High Schools (400 Students)

Nolan Finley writing from Detroit:

The hope is that this first, small school will turn into a statewide system of high schools linked to businesses and hell-bent on preparing Michigan kids for the best colleges, the best jobs, the best futures.
“We know from research that small high schools are making a big difference in the lives of young people across the country,” says Granholm, who approached Apple about coming to Detroit during a visit to Silicon Valley several months ago. “When a global corporation like Apple makes a commitment of this magnitude to education in Michigan, it underscores how critical it is that we prepare all of our children for the 21st-century economy.”
Michigan certainly isn’t doing that today. You’ve read these statistics before, but they are so bleak, so disturbing, that they bear repeating at every opportunity, lest parents forget how greatly their children are being cheated:

I think Madison should also explore smaller high schools (including smaller facilities).

2 thoughts on “Michigan Takes a Step Toward Small High Schools (400 Students)”

  1. The MMSD task forces on West side and East side facilities should certainly look at the pluses and minuses of small high schools.
    Milwaukee Public Schools launched a plan to “develop and open 30 new, small, innovative high schools and convert seven of the current, comprehensive high schools into multiplex campuses of small, autonomous schools that share a building. Teachers and community partners will envision, design, and open the new, small high schools with Board approval over a five-year period starting in July of 2003.”
    The district lays out a detailed rationale and plan for smaller high schools on its Web site at: http://www.milwaukee.k12.wi.us/pages/MPS/Administration/Offices_of_the_Superintendent/Strategic_Planning/HS_Redesign/Blueprint_for_New_Vision

  2. MMSD is already at work reorganizing the high schools into small learning communities. For instance, West High School is in the middle of a 3 year grant to restructure the school. Research seems to suggest that simply making the school smaller is not enough for success. Successful small schools have a rigorous curriculum and high expectations for all students. The literature also points to the importance of increased parental involvement.

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