Guyton Elementary vastly exceeds expectations

Friday, September 30, 2005

Guyton Elementary, a high-performing school on the city’s east side that had been scheduled to close as a result of low enrollment at the end of the last school year, will be staying open for the foreseeable future.

Preliminary figures released by school officials show that approximately 430 students have enrolled at Guyton this year. That’s significantly higher than the 350-student goal set by District CEO William F. Coleman and supporters of the school. Last year, the school had only 278 students.

But a tenacious coalition of supporters, made up of parents, elected officials, businesses, churches, neighborhood associations and community groups, mounted an aggressive campaign that included a comprehensive plan for attracting students to the school. Their plan, coupled with their unprecedented show of support for the school, helped persuade Coleman to agree to keep it open. Coleman imposed conditions that included an agreement that an additional 50 students be enrolled at Guyton each subsequent year until the school reaches its 500-student capacity.

The coalition went to work immediately to meet those goals. During a two-month period, its members passed out more than 12,000 brochures, set up a website, held an enrollment fair and knocked on hundreds of doors in the neighborhood. All of the students enrolled over the 278 number were non-Detroit Public Schools students.

“We are very proud of the efforts of the coalition,” Detroit Public Schools CEO William F. Coleman said at a news conference at Guyton earlier this week. “Imagine what would happen in this city if we had a group like this backing each of our schools.

“I want to thank the Community Partners to Revitalize Guyton, the Jefferson East Business Association and the entire Jefferson-Chalmers community area businesses, the residents of this community, and our elected leaders like Councilwoman Alberta Tinsley-Talabi and State Rep. Lamar Lemmons who pitched in on this effort. I also want to thank Sharon Meadows who quarterbacked this whole endeavor. Her persistence, her love for Guyton and her passion for this neighborhood helped ensure that Guyton is alive today.”