Westwood Schools Supt. Stiles Simmons (third from right) attends an Oct. 3 ribbon cutting at Robichaud High School.
By SUE SUCHYTA
Times-Herald Newspapers
HEIGHTS – Westwood Schools Supt. Stiles Simmons, who has been in his role for eight years, said the school district has recently made significant improvements, especially at the high school level.
He said the district has experienced a 20-point improvement in its Michigan School Index results, from 38 to 58, out of 100, since 2023, in its composite scores at Robichaud High School.
Simmons said the Michigan School Index is the accountability system that the federal government expects Michigan to have to evaluate its schools, and takes into consideration student academic growth, student academic proficiency, student high school graduation rates, progress made by English learners, school quality and student success, and it looks at attendance and programs offered to students and takes into account assessment participation.
He said the index also helps to identify schools that are performing in the bottom 5 percent and they are identified as in need of comprehensive support. No Westwood school is in the bottom 5 percent.
Simmons said many things have occurred that have improved the school system.
“We have identified goals and we have identified various objectives that we want to pursue,” he said. “One of those goals obviously would be to improve student academic achievement and performance.”
Simmons said they have increased staff members that can help address student mental health concerns, given some of the trauma that students experience outside of school hours.
He said at the elementary school level they have literacy time blocks set aside, and kindergarten through second grade has a two-hour block of time, during which students focus on reading, both in groups and individually, and interventions are available for students who need remediation. He said they do not interrupt the literacy time blocks for assemblies or other programs.
Simmons said that 64 percent of its student population comes from Inkster, 89 percent of the student body qualifies for free and reduced-cost student lunch, and they have students from Detroit through the schools-of-choice program.
“We have a population that most would define as challenging in terms of getting them where they need to be academically, but we’ve really been pushing the needle to improve student academic achievement and performance and we are starting to see our efforts really bear fruit,” he said.
Simmons said math improvement is important as well, and he said they want to make sure that students are ready to learn by supporting their mental health needs.
“Overall, we just want our students to be successful in school, to create healthy visions of their future, and then, after they graduate, to pursue that vision or those dreams that they’ve had,” he said.
The new Robichaud High School gym floor is ready to host athletic events.
Simmons said their current high school graduation rate is 89.66 percent, and a significant number of students go on to pursue post-secondary opportunities.
“Whether it be the military or community college or a four-year university or trade school, most of our students do move on to one of those opportunities,” he said. “We do have a strong (Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps) program at our high school and so that helps many of our students get prepared for the military.”
Simmons said Westwood is an ascending school district.
“Eight years ago, the district was coming out of financial distress, and as a result there were a lot of things that were lost: lost personnel, you had deteriorating facilities, lost programs, morale wasn’t very high because teachers had given concessions in terms of their salaries and benefits, and student achievement was nowhere near where it needed to be,” he said.
“And now we have a bond program that we are engaged in to improve our facilities, we have a healthy fund balance, so financially we’re solvent and strong, we have improved student achievement as evidenced by our Michigan School Index results, and we have much higher morale among staff and students.”
Simmons said he is happy with the district’s positive momentum, which includes the November 2023 school bond passage.
He said that last summer there were construction projects at the district’s schools as a result of the bond.
“We are just wrapping up planning for our summer projects for this upcoming summer,” Simmons said. “So, for the next two to three summers we’ll be engaged in various construction projects to improve our facilities, so we are really happy about that.”
He said he is happy for his students and families, and gives credit to the district’s staff and the board of education, as well as the district’s leadership team.
“We’ve worked really hard to get to where we are right now,” Simmons said.