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New Pershing School will usher in an era of modernization for Detroit Public Schools

Posted on by L. Dreeye
New Pershing School will usher in an era of modernization for Detroit Public Schools

Detroit — Walking through the halls of Pershing High School, the past comes alive.

Generations of team photos and trophies document Pershing’s distinguished sports history in basketball, football and baseball. The display cases overflow with accolades from sports alumni who have gone on to become professionals and Hall of Famers, such as NBA All-Star Steve Smith.

Murals in the hallways remind passersby of alumni of musical royalty such as Abdul “Duke” Fakir, the last original member of the Motown Four Tops, and actor-comedian Tim Meadows.

Next year, another star will emerge from the Detroit school: a state-of-the-art, $77 million “new” Pershing High School that, once built, will be the jewel in the crown of Michigan’s largest school district, which has historically struggled with costly and growing capital needs. because their enrollment numbers were declining.

Construction of a new one-story high school along Seven Mile and Ryan is scheduled to begin in January on the Pershing football field. The first cohort of students to participate is scheduled for fall 2027.

The current 249,000-square-foot school, built in 1929 and still using boilers for heating, will continue to serve its 430 students and dozens of staff until the new school is ready. The three-storey orange brick Art Deco building, which can accommodate 1,400 students, will then be demolished to make way for a new sports complex, due to be completed by 2029.

It’s a big moment for Detroit Public Schools district officials and Superintendent Nikolai Vitti, who is building his first new high school since he took office in 2017. Vitti inherits a city school district that needs $500 million in repairs to more than 100 buildings, from inoperative boilers to rusted plumbing and missing ceiling tiles in classrooms.

The new Pershing High School building, which is being built for approximately 600 students, will include state-of-the-art classrooms, advanced science and technology laboratories and state-of-the-art athletic facilities. The design prioritizes natural light, collaborative learning spaces and enhanced safety features, providing students with an environment that promotes academic success and school pride, school officials said.

The school, which will be about 124,000 square feet on one floor, will house the district’s culinary arts programs and a kitchen the size of a banquet hall, Pershing Principal Bryant Tipton said.

The new school will be a magnet for students from around the city, especially students in the culinary arts program, Tipton said.

“This is a big project… The whole neighborhood is talking about it. The whole town is talking about it,” Tipton said. “I’m sure we’ll have a lot of students who want to come here… It’s time for something fresh, and it all starts with Pershing.”

The district solves the construction problem

Vitti said the infrastructure spending is the largest since he became superintendent in 2017 and is moving his district into a new era of modernizing schools and continuing reforms.

“Pershing High School defines the best of traditional public education and its greatest problems,” Vitti said. “That’s why building a new school here was so important for reform. This investment sends a message to all Detroiters and the world that children in 48234 deserve the same school conditions, and better ones, than those growing up in affluent ZIP codes.”

The district’s school buildings were largely neglected under state emergency management that began in 2009 due to the financial crisis and ended in 2016. Pershing and other Detroit public schools were transferred by Gov. Rick Snyder to the state Office of Educational Excellence. which later failed and was closed. The schools were returned to the Detroit district in 2017.

In 2018, Livonia-based OHM Advisors estimated the cost of fixing failed boilers, leaking roofs and other building problems would be $1.4 billion by 2023 if the district delayed any work.

Vitti launched a sweeping, multi-year initiative to address school staffing, teachers and infrastructure in Michigan’s largest and poorest school district.

In 2020, the district used its remaining funds and created a $132 million capital fund for what is known as its first round of building improvements. In 2023, the Board of Education approved Vitti’s plan to spend $700 million in federal COVID funds on aging school facilities and build new schools, including Pershing.

In total, the district is building new buildings for five schools that were in need of major renovations: Pershing, Cody High School, Paul Robeson Malcolm X Academy, Carstens Elementary-Middle School and Phoenix Academy. Five more schools will receive additions, including an addition to Southeast High School to house its advanced manufacturing vocational program.

The new Pershing School will be the star of the district when it’s completed, but it will have some peers when other new school buildings come online in the future, said Chatoris Jones, senior director of operations for the Detroit district.

To build new schools and demolish old facilities, the district is spending $68 million on Cody, $49 million on Carstens, $48 million on Paul Robeson/Malcolm X and $47.7 million on Phoenix. All money comes from Covid-19 related dollars, school officials said.

The pandemic funds will also allow the district to build additions to five buildings to address overcrowding or increase enrollment, and to renovate at least 64 buildings, focusing on roofing, exteriors, heating, cooling and lighting. The district’s plan is to gradually demolish four school buildings in need of major repairs and demolish 12 buildings, including schools slated for demolition and vacant buildings on school campuses.

Notable features of the new school

The existing Pershing High School has been deemed inadequate for 21st century educational needs and will cost $40 million to rebuild, according to district officials. Demolition will cost about $3 million, officials said.

The new building will have a separate hallway that will highlight notable alumni and a Hall of Fame hallway that will include those who coached at the school but did not attend.

Pershing’s legendary musical alumni include Fakir of the Four Tops and his longtime bandmate, the late Levi Stubbs; Mabel John, the first singer on Motown Records founder Berry Gordy’s Tamla label; Geno Washington, R&B and rock singer; and, in recent years, the late celebrated hip-hop producer and rapper J. Dilla.

Allecia Gates, a music teacher at Pershing, is retiring in June after three decades of teaching, but plans to move to a new school to help in 2027.

“I will be here in spirit and maybe as a volunteer because I plan to retire in June, but I will be back hopefully in some capacity, even as a volunteer or helping out as a substitute or something like that.” ‘ said Gates.

“I grew up in this area and I have a vested interest in this area,” she said. “And my house is still three blocks away. … I also mentor kids, so I still want to continue those relationships because it’s important to me to build on the community that I came from.”

Ann Connally, president of the Pershing High School Alumni Association, said discussions are underway between alumni and the district to save the Pershing gymnasium floor, preserve the historic tiles around the pool and place those elements at the new school. The school’s cornerstone will be preserved, Connally said.

The new construction and planned demolition of the high school is bittersweet for Connally, a 1969 graduate, and many alumni, she said. When she attended school there, about 3,000 students filled the building.

“We are thrilled and heartbroken,” Connally said. “We just want students to have better opportunities and a better environment.”

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