Harper Woods Schools

**laurin** · August-20-10, 07:35 PM

I know that the school district is going through a shake-up due to low test scores. Does anyone have any information regarding the district and the community? Any and all information would be greatly appreciated.

I did see the 'eastside suburbs' thread, but wanted a bit more specific info. Thanks!

**Traveller1** · August-20-10, 11:07 PM

Originally Posted by laurin

I know that the school district is going through a shake-up due to low test scores. Does anyone have any information regarding the district and the community? Any and all information would be greatly appreciated.

I did see the 'eastside suburbs' thread, but wanted a bit more specific info. Thanks!

I'm not in the business of slamming on schools, but from what I've heard and researched myself on greatschools.com, schooldigger.com. etc. Harper Woods Public Schools aren't the greatest anymore.

Many parents that have school bound children in Harper Woods try to buy in the neighborhoods of Harper Woods that go to Grosse Pointe Public Schools [[GP North High School). I'm not exactly sure which neighborhood[[s) those are but I'll try to find a map.

**Traveller1** · August-20-10, 11:11 PM

http://www.michigan.gov/documents/CG...E_103282_7.pdf

Here's a Wayne County public school map. Zoom into Harper Woods and you can see the district lines for HW public schools and GP public schools.

Most of the Harper Woods neighborhoods east of I-94, as you can see on the map, are in the Grosse Pointe Public Schools.

**laurin** · August-21-10, 10:08 PM

Originally Posted by Traveller1

http://www.michigan.gov/documents/CG...E_103282_7.pdf

Here's a Wayne County public school map. Zoom into Harper Woods and you can see the district lines for HW public schools and GP public schools.

Most of the Harper Woods neighborhoods east of I-94, as you can see on the map, are in the Grosse Pointe Public Schools.

Thank you for the map and your responses- they are very helpful.

So, it'd be safe to say that Harper Woods schools have been written off by the greater community?

**CLAUDE G** · August-22-10, 01:41 AM

As a former Alumni, I heard even GP north was starting to go to crap also/

**fryar** · August-22-10, 01:23 PM

Originally Posted by CLAUDE G

As a former Alumni, I heard even GP north was starting to go to crap also/

Huh? I wasn't a student of GP geography or anything, but I did go through the GP's once or twice, that area looked like a well-endowed, pretty, leafy suburb that would seem to have some kind of control over that issue, a Yacht Club, country club type of place. It would have to have collapsed in the space of a few years.

**laurin** · August-22-10, 01:32 PM

Originally Posted by fryar

Huh? I wasn't a student of GP geography or anything, but I did go through the GP's once or twice, that area looked like a well-endowed, pretty, leafy suburb that would seem to have some kind of control over that issue, a Yacht Club, country club type of place. It would have to have collapsed in the space of a few years.

What precipitated the change from leafy suburb to downhill area? -- which I assume led to the current state of the district.

I find HW very interesting.

**Detroitej72** · August-24-10, 09:52 PM

Originally Posted by CLAUDE G

As a former Alumni, I heard even GP north was starting to go to crap also/

Originally Posted by fryar

Huh? I wasn't a student of GP geography or anything, but I did go through the GP's once or twice, that area looked like a well-endowed, pretty, leafy suburb that would seem to have some kind of control over that issue, a Yacht Club, country club type of place. It would have to have collapsed in the space of a few years.

When people say G.P. North is going to crap, what they really mean is that more black kids are going there.

Grosse Pointe Schools are doing just fine, as evidence by the fact they are continuously in the top 25 in the nation.

**Goose** · August-24-10, 10:27 PM

Originally Posted by Detroitej72

Originally Posted by CLAUDE G

As a former Alumni, I heard even GP north was starting to go to crap also/

When people say G.P. North is going to crap, what they really mean is that more black kids are going there.

Grosse Pointe Schools are doing just fine, as evidence by the fact they are continuously in the top 25 in the nation.

really? i would love to see a source or two for your top 25 notion....

bartock · August-25-10, 09:23 AM

Originally Posted by Detroitej72

Originally Posted by CLAUDE G

As a former Alumni, I heard even GP north was starting to go to crap also/

When people say G.P. North is going to crap, what they really mean is that more black kids are going there.

Grosse Pointe Schools are doing just fine, as evidence by the fact they are continuously in the top 25 in the nation.

Grosse Pointe Schools lag behind West Bloomfied, Rochester, Troy schools, just to name a few. Unless half of the school systems in the top 25 in the nation are from Michigan, I would venture to guess that this is not true.

The racial stuff is ridiculous. As much as I dislike the "you really have to be here" card, "you really have to be here." Read the WSU thread, and read Danny's comments here [[no, I do not always agree with him, but his post was right on). You have kids from the woeful DPS moving into an area and going to "better" schools. Much like WSU, many of these kids are not prepared for even secondary education, and many come from broken homes. Nobody suggested that there was more crime, gangs, danger, etc. at GPN, which are things that might suggest a race factor. It is simply a matter of diluting the talent, and just because many of the school of choice kids happen to be from Detroit or the Western side of HW, and just because many of them are black, does not mean that saying GPN is slipping academically is inherently a racial statement. Numbers are numbers, and facts are facts.

**jt1** · August-25-10, 09:27 AM

Originally Posted by bartock

just because many of them are black, does not mean that saying GPN is slipping academically is inherently a racial statement. Numbers are numbers, and facts are facts.

You state numbers are numbers and facts are facts yet you don't supply either. I would also like to see support for your claim of the dsitricts you stated are better. I'm not saying they aren't but statements like that need to be supported by facts.

Dabirch · August-25-10, 05:30 PM

Originally Posted by Detroitej72

Originally Posted by CLAUDE G

As a former Alumni, I heard even GP north was starting to go to crap also/

When people say G.P. North is going to crap, what they really mean is that more black kids are going there.

Grosse Pointe Schools are doing just fine, as evidence by the fact they are continuously in the top 25 in the nation.

Grosse Pointe south was Ranked 520th in the most recent Newsweek top Public High Schools in the US, and Grosse Pointe North was ranked 1187th.

While these rankins are not definitive, they are probably the most recognized rankings of public high schools in the US.

**JenniferL** · August-22-10, 01:47 AM

Are the kids in the Harper Woods schools from Harper Woods or do they take schools-of-choice kids from Detroit?

**laurin** · August-22-10, 11:25 AM

Originally Posted by JenniferL

Are the kids in the Harper Woods schools from Harper Woods or do they take schools-of-choice kids from Detroit?

They are Harper Woods kids. The HW district is not schools-of-choice.

**East Detroit** · August-22-10, 05:38 PM

Originally Posted by JenniferL

Are the kids in the Harper Woods schools from Harper Woods or do they take schools-of-choice kids from Detroit?

Why do you ask?

**Danny** · August-23-10, 08:48 AM

When the black population [[mostly from Detroit) accelarted further into Harper Woods neighborhoods since the 2000s, their parents sent them to Harper Woods Public Schools. Today every HWPS elementary, middle and the new high school with its Wayne State University Annex is over 55 percent black. That includes Poupard Elementary which it's not part of HWPS. The white student population of HWPS decline from 97% in 1990 to 40% in 2000. By 2010 it would be 37%. Try not to blame this problem on the white flight or playing race cards. As for the lower standerized text scores in HWPS, it is from broken kids from broken parents from broken homes. Doesn't matter what color they are who are living in Harper Woods.

WORD FROM THE STREET PROPHET

Source: from the neighbors of Harper Woods by survey.

Neda, I miss you so.

bartock · August-23-10, 10:29 AM

Originally Posted by Danny

When the black population [[mostly from Detroit) accelarted further into Harper Woods neighborhoods since the 2000s, their parents sent them to Harper Woods Public Schools. Today every HWPS elementary, middle and the new high school with its Wayne State University Annex is over 55 percent black. That includes Poupard Elementary which it's not part of HWPS. The white student population of HWPS decline from 97% in 1990 to 40% in 2000. By 2010 it would be 37%. Try not to blame this problem on the white flight or playing race cards. As for the lower standerized text scores in HWPS, it is from broken kids from broken parents from broken homes. Doesn't matter what color they are who are living in Harper Woods.

WORD FROM THE STREET PROPHET

Source: from the neighbors of Harper Woods by survey.

Neda, I miss you so.

Danny, good stuff.

I think the GP North comment earlier was about the school, not the area. GP doesn't have a "North," that would be Grosse Pointe Woods, which is still a leafy suburb [[and you can get great deals there right now, as well).

I live in Harper Woods, east of I-94 in the GP school district. While GP schools remain high quality, Danny is exactly right in that Poupard Elementary is loaded with Harper Woods' kids, a growing number from fractured homes, and fares miserably against other GP schools. GP North trails South, but not by much. In fact, both GP schools have been improving in test scoring the last few years. I'm guessing because economics are forcing some kids from private back to public schools. My oldest is in pre-school and I've decided to bypass the GP schools alltogether, Joan of Arc is affordable for a Catholic school.

Curious as to why Laurin would be so interested in Harper Woods. Don't get me wrong, I love the streetlights-and-sidewalks neighborhoods, the tree-lined streets, etc. However, aside from St. Sabbas, Eastland, a neat little library, Little League baseball and Bob Seger's old hangout, there isn't that much to see here.

Of course, since I wasn't born there and have only lived there for 7 years, I can't consider myself to be a "Harper Woodser."

**JenniferL** · August-25-10, 01:15 AM

Originally Posted by East Detroit

Why do you ask?

I asked if Harper Woods took schools-of-choice kids because I've heard stories about how parents in other inner ring suburbs pull their kids out of the local public schools as soon as their district decides to open their doors to kids from Detroit.

**Patrick** · August-23-10, 10:32 AM

Open enrollment....you take kids from a shitty district with no skills and preparation and place them in a district with its shit together and of course test scrores will decline. Doesn't matter if they are black, white green or yellow.

lincoln8740 · August-24-10, 08:39 PM

Originally Posted by Patrick

Open enrollment....you take kids from a shitty district with no skills and preparation and place them in a district with its shit together and of course test scrores will decline. Doesn't matter if they are black, white green or yellow.

When has what you described happened because of "white green or yellow" kids?

**fryar** · August-24-10, 10:20 PM

I'll admit I have been wondering if it isn't just that old canard.

**bailey** · August-25-10, 03:38 PM

GP north and Poupard have "always" been regarded as the problem children of the GP schools. It's 'always' been that way because there are lots of cheap housing options in GP woods and there is a slice of Harper Woods that is part of GP Schools. The scores, the fights, the petty crime at North has always been blamed on the kids from those areas. is that a cop out? I dont know. All I know is that GP North has all the same funding as South and all the same community resources, yet, year after year after year it under performs.

**Goose** · August-25-10, 06:25 PM

Originally Posted by bailey

GP north and Poupard have "always" been regarded as the problem children of the GP schools. It's 'always' been that way because there are lots of cheap housing options in GP woods and there is a slice of Harper Woods that is part of GP Schools. The scores, the fights, the petty crime at North has always been blamed on the kids from those areas. is that a cop out? I dont know. All I know is that GP North has all the same funding as South and all the same community resources, yet, year after year after year it under performs.

That explanation doesn't make total sense as the very Western side of Grosse Pointe Park has some very affordable housing and also a lot of cheap rental units. When I graduated from North in 1986 I didn't recall any problems arising from the occupants of the cheap housing options in Grosse Pointe Woods ghetto.

**bailey** · August-25-10, 06:56 PM

Originally Posted by Goose

That explanation doesn't make total sense as the very Western side of Grosse Pointe Park has some very affordable housing and also a lot of cheap rental units. When I graduated from North in 1986 I didn't recall any problems arising from the occupants of the cheap housing options in Grosse Pointe Woods ghetto.

I didn't really mean it as a total explanation...just the one that "everyone" uses. Clearly the real reason for the huge disparity is that kids that go to North are just dumber.

**Danny** · August-27-10, 10:53 AM

Originally Posted by Goose

That explanation doesn't make total sense as the very Western side of Grosse Pointe Park has some very affordable housing and also a lot of cheap rental units. When I graduated from North in 1986 I didn't recall any problems arising from the occupants of the cheap housing options in Grosse Pointe Woods ghetto.

I agree, The housing in Grosse Pointe Park back in 1980s are still expensive than today even though its a low to some individual back then, including rentals. The housing today is still expensive to keep property values a float against lower property values from the other side of Alter Rd. in which it works as a demarcation border between the low-income blacks from Detroit and rich and wealthy white folks in the five points. The 5 blocks of Grosse Pointe Park from Alter Rd. to Beaconsfield St. is definately NOT a ghetto due to the rows of Detroit East Sidesque family flats, bungalows and colonials packed close with an alley access. But most white folks prefer to called it their 'ghetto or slum', I would just call it the boondocks.

WORD FROM THE STREET PROPHET

As a loose pit bull or a rottweiler steps or a DEAD [[C)KRAK HEAD walk across Alter Rd. and into Grosse Pointe Park.

Neda, I miss you so.