Tag Archives: International Baccalaureate

WISD and YCS approach terms on the future of the Washtenaw International Middle Academy

By Mark | March 11, 2018

Remember how, this past October, the Ypsilanti Board of Education voted to give control of the Washtenaw International Middle Academy (WIMA) over to a consortium managed by the Washtenaw Intermediate School District, and how Ypsilanti parents organized to block the deal from going through, concerned about what it might mean for both he local school […]

Posted in Education, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Also tagged public education, schools of choice, Washtenaw Educational Options Consortium, Washtenaw Intermediate School District, Washtenaw International High School, Washtenaw International Middle Academy, WEOC, WIHI, WIMA, WISD, YCS, Ypsilanti Board of Education, Ypsilanti Community Schools | 6 Comments

Washtenaw Intermediate School District leadership weighs in on the battle over Ypsi’s International Baccalaureate middle school

By Mark | October 30, 2017

On the evening of Tuesday, October 17, members of the Ypsilanti Community Schools Board of Education, without any public debate, voted 4-2 in favor of a plan to hand over control of Ypsi’s Washtenaw International Middle Acadey (WIMA) to the Washtenaw Educational Options Consotrium (WEOC), the organization that currently operates the regionally-funded, and Ypsilanti-based Washtenaw […]

Posted in Ann Arbor, Education, Ypsilanti | Also tagged Bert Okma, debt, diversity, East Middle School, economic segregation, extractive colonialism, Maria Sheler-Edwards, Naomi Norman, opportunity index, public education, school consolidation, schools of choice, Scott Menzel, segregation, threats to public education, Washtenaw Educational Options Consotrium, Washtenaw Intermediate School District, Washtenaw International High School, WEOC, West Middle School, WIHI, WIMA, WISD, YCS, YIES, YPS, Ypsilanti Board of Education, Ypsilanti Community Schools, Ypsilanti International Elementary School, Ypsilanti Public Schools | 23 Comments

The Great International Baccalaureate War of Ypsilanti

By Mark | October 23, 2017

Earlier this summer, I heard that the administrative staff and teachers at the Washtenaw International Middle Academy (WIMA), Ypsilanti’s International Baccalaureate middle school, had begun advocating for a plan that would see them leave Ypsilanti Community Schools (YCS), and join the Washtenaw International High School (WIHI) beneath the umbrella of the Washtenaw Intermediate School District’s […]

Posted in Education, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Also tagged Betsy DeVos, charter schools, for-profit charter schools, Maria Sheler-Edwards, Washtenaw Educational Options Consortium, Washtenaw Intermediate School District, Washtenaw International High School, Washtenaw International Middle Academy, WEOC, WIHI, Willow Run, WIMA, WISD, YIES, Ypsilanti Board of Education, Ypsilanti Community Schools, Ypsilanti International Elementary School | 31 Comments

The mother of the Royal Oak 7th grader who shot the “Built the Wall” video talks about the climate of racial intimidation within the school

By Mark | November 14, 2016

Last Wednesday, the day after Donald Trump was elected our 45th president, Alicia Ramon’s 7th grade daughter Josie texted her from the cafeteria of Royal Oak Middle School, where several white students had begun pounding on their tables and chanting “Build the wall,” while staring at their hispanic classmates. In her text, Ramon’s daughter, who […]

Posted in Civil Liberties, Michigan | Also tagged ACLU, Alicia Ramon, Build the Wall, chanting, Donald Trump, Josie Ramon, middle school, racial intimidation, racism, Royal Oak, Royal Oak Middle School, white nationalism | 67 Comments

Motor City Muckraker’s Steve Neavling on the importance of investigative journalism in Detroit, the launch of Ypsi’s new IB elementary school, the campaign for the Riverside Park playground, and talking improv and cancer with Pointless Brewery & Theatre co-founder Tori Tomalia… on episode 41 of the Saturday Six Pack

By Mark | March 27, 2016

I’m still playing catch-up, trying to get the most recent episodes of the Saturday Six Pack posted here. I’m sorry that it’s been taking me so long, but other projects keep getting in the way. [Speaking of which, we’re set to close on that building I was telling you about by the end of the […]