Marcus Garvey Academy

Basic Information

Address: 2301 Van Dyke Street Detroit, Michigan 48214

County: Wayne

District: Detroit Public Schools

Phone Number: (313) 866-7400

Fax Number: (313) 866-7382

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Principal: James A. Hearn

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Additional Information

School Type: Public

Accreditation: North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement (NCA CASI)

District ID:

School ID: 313

State District ID: 82010

State School ID: 7581

Grade Level: Pre-K, K-5, 6-8

Founded: Founded in July 1, 1991 by Dr. Harvey Hambrick

School Setting:

Marcus Garvey Academy, which serves students in PreK to 8th grade, offers a high-performing, African-centered learning environment that places an emphasis on cultural awareness, global learning and community service. The strength of the program is a focus on culture and self-awareness. Garvey Academy believes in building students’ self esteem, self respect and pride to raise student achievement. Marcus Garvey Academy’s indictors of student success include continuous improvement, commitment to community empowerment and a love of life long learning. The school features $8.6 million in building upgrades and renovations of academic areas.

School Schedule (Hours in Day): 9:00 a.m. to 4:15p.m.

School Days in Calendar Year: 180 days

School Holidays: Labor Day, Veterans Day, Thanks Giving Recess, Christmas Recess, Martin Luther King, Winter Break, Spring Break, Memorial Day, Independence Day

School Colors: Red, Black and Green

School Mascot: Hurricanes

Cluster:

Community:

The West Village Historic District is a historic district roughly bounded by Jefferson, Kercheval, Parker, and Seyburn Avenues in Detroit, Michigan. Adjacent to the west is the Islandview neighborhood, and adjacent to the east is Indian Village. The district received its name in the mid 20th century because of its location just west of the more well-known Indian Village Historic District.[2] It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.[1]

School Size: 600

Classroom Size: 35

Classroom Teachers: 40

Student/Teacher Ratio: 20-35: 1

Support Services:

Students are given many opportunities to discuss issues related to their own development through activities lead by our school councilor’s and social worker’s office.

-Conflict resolution -GEAR UP
-MEAP Tutoring -SMART Program
-Food Collections -Operation Graduation
-Title I informational Meetings -Peer Mediation-tutoring
-Community In-Service -Project Citizen
-Drug/Violence Prevention and Intervention -D.A.R.E.
-Individual and group Counseling -Career Day
-Student Council-student Government -DAPCEP Participation
-King/Chavez/Parks Scholarship Program -Disney Radio AM 109
-YMCA Youth Leadership
-Black Medical Association Reach Out to Youth Program
-Honors Assembly (quarterly and end of the year for students, parents, and staff.)

Camp Programs: Yes

After School Programs: Yes

Summer School: Yes

PTA Organization: Yes

Computer Capabilities:

All classesrooms have WIFI cinternet access

School Clubs:

Inside Out Writers Program, Boys and Girls Basketball, School Community Agencies and Services, Robotics Club, The M.A.D.E. Conflict Resolution Program, Spanish Club, Detroit Compact Scholarship Program, Academic Games, Girls & Boys Read Program, The180° Self-Esteem/Conflict Resolution, Tutoring/Extended Day After School Program, In School Full Service Health Clinic, Urban Gardening, Adult Computer Literacy Class, Glee Club, Music, Art, Computer Courses, Physical Education, Schools of the 21st Century

Lunch Availability: All students participate in a school wide free universal breakfast, lunch and supper program.

Parking Spaces/Availability:

150 on-site parking spaces.

Uniform Guidelines:

Uniform Requirements
Shirt: White.
Pants/Skirts: Blue.

Philosophy/Belief Statement:

SCHOOL BELIEFS
*All students can learn, achieve, and succeed.
*Students’ self esteem is fostered through earned successes and positive experiences.
*Education of the whole child is important. This includes social,civic as well as academics.
*Indicators of student success includes continuous improvement and a love of life-long learning.
The goals of Marcus Garvey Academy are:
*To be a School of First Choice in the City of Detroit.
*To be recognized as a National and State Blue Ribbon School of Excellence.
*To continued our recognized as a Skillman Foundation High Performing School as evidenced by standardized and criterion reference tests, student grades, and school culture.
*To be recognized as an exemplary School of Choice for Mathematics, Science and Technology in an African-Centered setting.

Enrollment Characteristics: Garvey Academy Demographics Student Counts Grade No. Students EIDC (0-3 yrs) 1 Non Enrolled (3-5) 1 Pre Kindergarten 49 Kindergarten 63 First 53 Second 45 Third 48 Fourth 47 Fifth 44 Sixth 58 Seventh 74 Eighth 77 Total: 560 Ethnicity Distribution Ethnicity Percentage Students Black or African American 99.5% 557 Arabic 0.2% 1 Hispanic or Latino 0.2% 1 White 0.2% 1 Total 560 Gender Distribution Gender Percentage No. Students Male 52.0% 291 Female 48.0% 269

School History:

The Marcus Garvey African Centered Academy is a Pre-K - 8 schools with a clear vision and mission. The vision is to provide a high performing environment that places emphasis on cultural awareness, global learning and community service in an African centered, loving, nurturing, learning environment. This environment prepares our students to be competent, productive citizens and lifelong learners in a global technological 21st century society. Our mission is to establish a customer service, parent friendly school that fosters collaboration with parents, family, business and community organizations to ultimately successfully educate all students in a clean, safe, disciplined learning environment conducive for learning. All decisions are data driven, cultural centered, emphasizing leadership, self-discipline, self - respect, self - determination, self - awareness, technology and literacy proficiency in an environment of high expectations for all while using a standard based curriculum. The school's tradition is the implementation of an old African Proverb of, "It takes an entire village to raise a child." integrated our school culture. At the beginning of each week students assemble in a village setting for a meeting called Harambee, to focus on African centered principles, history, weekly objectives, expectations, positive achievements and recognitions of peers.

The Garvey program was one of the three original African centered male academies that faced a lawsuit by the ACLU because of gender preference. The ACLU won the lawsuit and the academies open in 1991. Since its inception the academies faced numerous of accusations promoting racism and separatism. Through dedication and hard work of all stakeholders, our Academy has consistently and successfully raised academic and social skills of our students. Our founding principal personally chose Mr. J. Hearn to replace him and continue the vision he had for our school. Mr. Hearn is a strong and innovative principal; he stays in close contact with the students and parents. He has rolled up his sleeves to inspect crawl spaces, clean alleys, find business & community partners, and work within the community to improve our students' environment and educational experiences.

Programs and Services:

Types of other activities and programs students, parents and the community are involved in are as follows:
-Local School Community Organization (LSCO) -Science Fair
-Concerts -Open House
-Field trips -After School Tutoring
-Title I conference & School Meetings -Rights of Passage
-Detroit Police Department- 7th Precinct -YMCA Youth Leadership
-Parent’s Meeting by Councilor -Career Day
-King/Chavez/Parks Program -SMART Program
-Mr. Borycz Art Program -MEAP Tutoring
-Disney Radio AM 109 -Student Government
-Girl/Boy Scout Programs -Studio 2B
-Basketball -Boys & Girls -Cheerleading
-Karate -Food Collections
-After School Program -Academic Games
-Spectrum Career Modules- 4th Grade -Keyboard Institute- 2nd Grade
-Drama -Jump Rope for Your Heart
-Southeastern Village -Operation Graduation
-Kwanzaa Karamu -June-Teenth Celebration
-DAPCEP -Exam Experts
-Honors Assembly (quarterly and end of the year for students, parents, and staff.)
-African Drum & Dance - Trip to Washington, Taste Fest, Festival of the Arts, African World Festival

Notes/School Information:

To fight against disproportionately high dropout rates of black students, and the ever-present "achievement gap," education professionals agree that learning must be "relevant, meaningful and interesting" to keep the most at-risk students engaged. It turns out that Afrocentric-themed schools in Detroit are seeing improved standardized test results from students who hail from some of the most challenging environments in the state.

At Marcus Garvey Academy in Detroit, the week begins with the recitation of black history facts followed by the sounds of drummers summoning students to an assembly. Students sing the black national anthem and recite the school creed, which starts, "I will have faith in myself. ... I can learn! I will learn! I must learn!" This is before any reading, writing and arithmetic. Garvey is an African-centered educational environment, and in 2008, its students outperformed the state average in most categories on the MEAP. Three other African-centered schools in Detroit serving students in kindergarten through eighth grade fared better than the Detroit Public Schools average. Source: How Marcus Garvey Academy Rises Above, freep.com

Like many charter schools, strong character and pride are taught hand-in-hand with academics. And the love-of-self is what Garvey teachers, parents and students see as a distinguishing benefit to this kind of educational environment.

African-centered schools outperform others because of their family-oriented environment, said Haki Madhubuti, a nationally renowned educator. "It is critical that you love yourself. ... If you have humanity, you don't go out and shoot people," he said.

Open to anyone in the Detroit Public Schools district, Garvey has surpassed DPS and state scores on the MEAP in many areas, despite moving and merging three times in the last eight years and high poverty rates among students. More than 86 percent are economically disadvantaged. Source: How Marcus Garvey Academy Rises Above, freep.com