DPS receives nearly $3 million in grants

Tuesday, December 27, 2005

The Detroit Public Schools has received nearly $3 million in grants from about 10 sources for a variety of academic, literacy, professional and youth development projects.

All of the grants, which range in size from $2,750 to $1.270 million, were awarded in September and October.

Three of the grants – one for $1.27 million, another for $165,000 and a third for $265,000 - come from the Skillman Foundation. General Motors and the United Auto Workers (UAW) kicked in nearly half a million dollars for an initiative that encourages high seniors at one of the District’s career technical high schools to elect a course of study that focuses on manufacturing.  

The National Center for Literacy and the Toyota Foundation awarded a three-year grant totaling $350,000 that addresses the educational needs of Hispanic and other immigrant families.  A $225,000 grant provided by the United Community Hospital and the Michigan Department of Health and Education will provide primary care, psychosocial and health promotion/disease prevention and outreach services to students from a select number of schools.

Following is a detailed description of each of the grants:

Skillman Foundation Good Schools Making the Grade - $1,270,000 - a seven-year grant initiative. The award for the first year provides funding for 52 of the district’s schools. The purpose is to address the national indicators of success in order to continue to bring about academic success.

Skillman Foundation Good Schools Making the Grade Monitoring Team - $165,000.  
The grant will be used to hire two employees to provide on-site financial monitoring and program coordination to the 52 schools that were funded under this initiative.  

Skillman Foundation Principals Leadership Academy - $265,000.  Implemented by the Office of Staff Development and School Leaders, this will be used to continue the district’s Aspiring Principals Academy and extend the goals of the Skillman Foundation’s School Leadership Network.

Community Foundation for Southeastern Michigan - $27,885. Day School for the Deaf will use funds to implement VISA:  Drumming and Dancing for deaf and hard-of-hearing students.  The program will offer students music and dance education experiences.  Partners for the program include The Hearing and Sign Language Center and the First Circle Organization.  

On behalf of the UAW and General Motors – $486,714 - A contract to implement the Detroit Manufacturing Program, a School to Work Initiative. Project funds will be used to allow high school seniors to elect, through Breithaupt Career and Technical Center, a course of study which focuses on manufacturing, coupled with real world “hands-on” manufacturing work/career related experiences. Program partners include UAW-GM, the GM Hamtramck facility, and UAW Local 22.

Michigan Women’s Foundation – $2,750 to Malcolm X Academy to conduct “Fitness Works,”  a spring and summer camp for students that will teach fitness training, nutrition, image awareness, employment skills and etiquette, while establishing a strong support system and practical application of life and social skills.  Program partners include Love that Works, Inc. and City of Refuge Community Outreach Ministries.

The National Center for Family Literacy and the Toyota Foundation - a three-year grant totaling $350,000, the purpose of which is to address the growing educational needs of Hispanic and other immigrant families in Detroit.  The program will focus on the development of English language skills for parents and will encourage their involvement in their children’s education.  Participating schools are Academy of the Americas, Higgins Elementary School and Webster Elementary School.  Partners include the Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation and Southwest Solutions.

DaimlerChrysler Corporation Fund – a one-year grant of $9,000 to Martin Luther King, Jr. High School for its 2005 Band Legacy project. The band legacy project will help provide current and future high school students that participate in band the full experience of band performance and competition.  Project funds will be used to purchase state-of-the-art band uniforms and materials for students participating in MLK’s high school band.

Coca-Cola Foundation and International Development Research Association – a $65,000 award to conduct the Coca-Cola Valued Youth Program, an international tutoring and drop-out prevention program with a focus on children with limited English proficiency.  Over a three-year period, selected Western International High School students will serve as tutors four days a week to Maybury Elementary School students.  
  
United Community Hospital and the Michigan Department of Community Health and Education - The newly developed “United Community Hospital’s Healthy Teens Community Care Center” will provide primary care, psychosocial and health promotion/disease prevention and outreach services to students attending Westside Multicultural, Poe Developmental, Phoenix Multicultural Academy, Detroit City High, Cass Technical High School, Murray Wright, Southwestern, Chadsey, Cody, Clippert Academy, Detroit School of the Arts, Earhart Middle School, Catherine Ferguson, and Burton International. The program will be funded through the 2007-08 school year.


About the Detroit Public Schools

With more than 130,000 students, the Detroit Public Schools is one of the nation’s largest public school systems. Detroit Public Schools is a school district of choice and is open to children who live outside the city. The District offers a variety of highly competitive academic and career technical programs.



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