Port Huron academies to return to traditional school model

McKenna Golat, Port Huron Times Herald
·2 min read
The STEAM Academy at Woodrow Wilson Elementary School in Port Huron on Thursday, Nov. 17, 2022.
The STEAM Academy at Woodrow Wilson Elementary School in Port Huron on Thursday, Nov. 17, 2022.

The Port Huron Board of Education voted unanimously Monday night to return the STEAM Academy at Woodrow Wilson and the Literacy Academy at Cleveland back to traditional schools.

The board considered the change based on data collected from the academies and surveys from staff and families. Superintendent of Instruction Catherine Woolman said in an email that the academy model had not resulted in the academic growth the district hoped to see.

Only 92% of the Literacy Academy at Cleveland building and 46% of the STEAM Academy at Woodrow Wilson building are currently being utilized. While all the classrooms are being used at the literacy academy, several at the STEAM academy are not.

STEAM Academy at Woodrow Wilson was also identified as a partnership school with the Michigan Department of Education in December. The school was identified as needing support and improvement with the assistance of the MDE because it scored in the bottom 5% of the state's index accountability system.

Sharon McComb, an intervention specialist at Literacy Academy at Cleveland Elementary, works with a student Monday, Jan. 4, 2019 in the school's transitional kindergarten class.
Sharon McComb, an intervention specialist at Literacy Academy at Cleveland Elementary, works with a student Monday, Jan. 4, 2019 in the school's transitional kindergarten class.

Superintendent Theo Kerhoulas said one of the strategies the district will be working on with the MDE is creating smaller class sizes at Woodrow Wilson. Additionally, he said smaller class sizes may also be beneficial for Cleveland.

Cleveland and Woodrow Wilson were restructured to focus on literacy and STEAM instruction in 2018. Additionally, the Literacy Academy teaches kindergarten through second grade while the STEAM Academy teaches third through fifth grade.

Returning the academies to traditional K-5 schools like the other elementary schools in the district will cost approximately $10,000.

Kerhoulas said the upcoming change are by no means a reflection of the staff or students at either school.

"The staff are incredible from both buildings and those kids give it everything," he said. "They do a great job every day."

The schools will be changed before the start of the 2023-2024 academic year. In addition to no longer placing a focus on STEAM and literacy, the schools will be renamed to Woodrow Wilson Elementary School and Cleveland Elementary School.

Contact McKenna Golat at mgolat@gannett.com or (810) 292-0122.

This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: Port Huron to change its academies back to traditional schools