Detroit, USA - As Detroit public and Catholic school enrollment continues to decline, triggering a wave of school closings, a small Christian-based private school alternative started by Grosse Pointe attorney Clark Durant continues to grow.
Cornerstone Schools today is expected to announce the opening of its fifth school in Detroit in partnership with Metropolitan United Methodist Church, pushing total enrollment to about 1,000 students since its first school opened in 1991.
Called the Woodward Avenue Cornerstone School, the new school will be located inside the church, just a few blocks north of West Grand Boulevard in the New Center area.
Initial enrollment is expected to be about 150 students from kindergarten through the fifth grade.
The school will immediately begin accepting students and offering financial aid.
Like other Cornerstone schools, it will require a parent covenant, feature individual learning programs, an 11-month school year, classes averaging 21 students and emphasize a "culture of loving God and loving others."
"It's pretty amazing, isn't it?" said Durant, a former state board of education president who unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. Senate in 1990. "All we have tried to do is to encourage our families and students to do well, and have our partners to be part of the lives of these children. We are trying to create a rich tapestry of love. The people have responded to that, and the kids have done well."
Cornerstone Schools was one of just nine city schools recognized as being "high-performing" by the Skillman Foundation's "Good School: Making The Grade" initiative, an effort by the nonprofit organization to encourage academic excellence in Detroit schools. The foundation awarded grants of up to $100,000 to schools that applied for the initiative and met certain performance criteria. Seventy-six Detroit public, private and charter school schools applied. To see a complete list of schools go the Web site www.skillman.org.
Financially, the new Cornerstone school was made possible by the Turning Point Invitational tournament and dinner at the Country Club of Detroit hosted by golfing legend Arnold Palmer last year.
The event raised over $6 million, Durant said, benefiting 12 charities, including Cornerstone.
"That allowed us to look for a new school," said Durant, who serves as CEO of Cornerstone. "The other factors were the need for excellence in the city is so great and we wanted to be part of filling that excellence. And Metropolitan church has a wonderful mission to serve the city and was open to forming a partnership. It was a natural coming together."
In a statement, the Rev. William Verheist, senior pastor of Metropolitan United, said that he is "pleased to be partnering with Cornerstone Schools to provide quality education to the children in this area of the city. Metropolitan and Cornerstone Schools share common values and a deep desire to serve the community."
One of Cornerstone's unique features is its partnership program that allows individuals and businesses to contribute $2,500 toward the education of a student. The individuals are then encouraged to meet with that student at the school four times a year.
Cornerstone has more than 600 sponsors, Durant said, but the partnerships still are not enough to cover the cost of educating each student. Among the school's supporters and partners, Durant said, are Detroit businessman Dave Bing and attorney David Baker Lewis.
Although students received religious instruction based on the Bible, Durant emphasized Cornerstone is "trying get past the stereotypes" of traditional religion-based schools.
"We want to focus on not what your denomination is, but who you are in the eyes of God and who your neighbor is," he said. "We are trying to nurture a culture of loving God and loving others, so we treat individuals with respect with a powerful understanding that each child has a purpose and image in the likeness of God."
Durant differs with those who might view the growth of Cornerstone as contributing to the enrollment decline at the city's Catholic and public schools.
"Nothing declines when you bring positive value to a situation," he said. "The way a city grows is to add value. All Cornerstone is trying to do is be an answer, not the answer, for those who choose to receive a Cornerstone education."