Detroit Public Schools on Monday, April 13 will kick off a new “See It Believe It Week” with a blockbuster set of events, culminating in the district’s first-ever STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) themed Open Doors Day on Saturday, April 18 and a special invitation to Detroit families to visit the Detroit Children’s Museum free of charge.
The series of events seek to invite parents who have not yet selected a school to tour any DPS school after-school on Wednesday, April 15 or from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.Saturday, April 18. Families looking to enroll their children in Pre-Kindergarten can also do so at the school sites. In addition, parents of currently-enrolled students are encouraged to visit their child’s school on Saturday for valuable enrollment information for the upcoming school year.
See It Believe It Week launches Monday with Pre-K-to-K transition events, in which DPS elementary schools begin having their Pre-Kindergarten students engaged in daily transition activities with Kindergarten classrooms. This will include reading circles, math lessons, lunch and more. The itineraries have been coordinated by Early Childhood teachers.
On Wednesday, all schools will showcase their academic offerings and college/career-track programs to perspective families during after-school Open Houses at every school. Times will vary depending on the end of the school day at each school. Go to detroitk12.org/schools to see a complete list of schools.
On Saturday, the district will host its first-ever STEM-themed Open Doors Day, in conjunction with the district’s Office of Science. Schools have each designed creative itineraries to showcase their individual STEM offerings.
The STEM events include:
- Cody-Detroit Institute of Technology: The high school will showcase 3D printers, robots, and mini Innovative Vehicle Design cars.
- Noble Elementary-Middle School: Families and students will have the opportunity to create terrariums and learn about batteries, bulbs, and electric circuits.
- Clippert Academy: Students will be able to explore Moon Destroyers and create Oobleck.
- Ronald Brown Academy: The theme is “Up, Up and Away.” Hands-on activities will include rocket pinwheels, antacid table races, pop can heros, paper rockets and more.
- Chrysler Elementary: The school will hold a robot parade and have hands-on chemistry demonstrations by the chemistry club.
- Gardner Elementary: STEM activities will include a K’nex building station, and projects with dinosaur fossils, mealworms and magnets.
- Burton International Academy: Activities include tabletop hovercrafts, elephant’s toothpaste, blobs in a bottle, “make your own slime,” and weather tool creations.
Saturday also marks a rare opportunity for Detroit families whose children are not enrolled in Detroit Public Schools to visit the Detroit Children’s Museum free of charge. Families will have the opportunity to:
- Learn how to make a terrarium, a bird house, and how to “Re-Grow Kitchen Scraps;”
- Create Bug Buttons;
- Invent a nutritious smoothie;
- Hear about classes and programs offered by Keep Growing Detroit.
Families and their children also will be able to explore the gallery and learn about some of the museum’s nearly 2 million historical artifacts, take in a Planetarium show, and experiment in the museum’s Sound and Music Room. Federal funding currently mandates that the Detroit Children’s Museum is only open to DPS’ Title I families, however the museum is open to the public on April 18 thanks to a sponsorship by Lawrence Technological University.
As a special offering, parents and guardians also will be able to learn about opportunities this summer at DPS’ Camp Burt Shurly, a Title I-funded Summer Camp Program located in Gregory, Michigan for Detroit Public Schools’ students. The event will showcase a portable climbing wall, archery, and field games in the Children’s Museum parking lot, and DPS parents who have children between the ages of 8-12 will be able to register their children for a free week of camp.
The Detroit Children’s Museum, located at 6134 Second Avenue, will be open from10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
See It Believe It Week will conclude with the opening of the annual Detroit Public Schools Student Exhibition, featuring hundreds of imaginative works created by Detroit Public Schools students in grades K-12, ranging from paintings, prints, drawings, photography, ceramics, videos, jewelry and more.
The exhibition kicks off Saturday, April 18 and will run through May 31, 2015 at the Detroit Public Library – Main Branch. The Detroit Public Library is located at 5201 Woodward Ave., across the street from the DIA. Admission to the library is free.
The 78th Detroit Public Schools Student Exhibition was organized by the Detroit Institute of Arts and Detroit Public Schools and is made possible with support from the Ruth T. T. Cattell Education Endowment Fund. Additional support was provided by the Detroit Public Schools Foundation.