Skillman Foundation awards more than $1 million in grants to DPS schools

Monday, May 22, 2006

A total of 20 DPS schools received Grants totaling $1.005 million from the Skillman Foundation. Another eight schools will receive technical assistance from the Foundation.

The awards, known as the Good Schools Making the Grade awards, are given to schools that have made great strides in the area of student achievement. The awards fall into four categories: high performing, continuing high performing, improving and aspiring.

Nine schools – Fairbanks, FLICS, Jamieson, John R. King, Mann Learning Community, Stewart, Thirkell, Bates and Burton – received high performing awards that ranged from $50,000 to $100,000.  Chrysler Elementary received a continuing high performing award.

Eight elementary schools – Birney, Guyton, Heilmann Park, Hughes, Macomb, Sherrard, Spain and White – received improving grants that ranged from $10,000 to $40,000. Carstens Elementary received a continuing improving elementary grant of $25,000.

Two middle schools – Spain and Ludington – and six elementary schools received the aspiring award. The six elementary schools are: Ronald Brown Academy, Burt, Cooke, Hanneman, Richard and Van Zile. They will receive technical assistance from the Good Schools Resource Center at Marygrove College

Bates Academy and Gompers Elementary, which each received $100,000 grants for being high performing schools the previous year, will receive $25,000 per school to serve as mentors. That brings the total number of grants awarded to Bates to $225,000.

The grants, which were formally awarded at a ceremony at Cass Technical High School late last week, will be used for materials and equipment for students, professional development and training, as well as parent and community involvement activities.  

“This is great news for the Detroit Public Schools,” said William F. Coleman III, superintendent of the Detroit Public Schools. “This independent endorsement by one of the nation’s most respected children’s and educational foundations is a shot in the arm. It confirms the fact that we have a large coterie of excellent schools.”