2022-2023 / / / / / / / / / / / / / /
Annual Report
Schools
CMU’s partner schools are leading the way. They innovate, specialize, and empower families to select the best options for their children.
72 Schools
Ann Arbor
Benton Harbor
Beverly Hills
Brighton
Byron Center
Canton
Center Line
Clinton Township
Coldwater
Dearborn
Detroit
East Lansing
Eastpointe
Eaton County
Eaton Rapids
Farmington Hills
Flat Rock
Flint
Grand Blanc
Grand Rapids
Harper Woods
Highland Park
Holland
Holly
Howell
Huron Township
Inkster
Jackson
Kalamazoo
Lakeland
Lansing
Livonia
Midland
Mount Pleasant
Novi
Okemos
Plymouth
Roseville
Saginaw
Southfield
Southgate
Spring Lake
Sterling Heights
Taylor
Walker
Waterford
Ypsilanti
Two New Schools Joined the CMU Portfolio
We are proud to welcome two new partners to the CMU charter public school family. From a Montessori school with a decades-long tie to the community to a new school in Detroit that partners with a national leader in education, they share a common vision with all schools in the CMU portfolio: they strive to provide a quality educational experience that meets the needs of the families in their communities.
Innovation & Vision Award
CMU annually honors its partner schools’ innovative approaches and inspiring visions for the future. This year’s winner, Macomb Academy, was selected by a vote of our 2022 annual conference attendees. To learn more about the school’s unique programming, watch its award-winning video submission.
“At Macomb Academy, our mission is to provide, in collaboration with community and business resources, a transitional education program to prepare students for adult roles in the workplace and life. We truly live that each day as our school is where the transition to adulthood begins for our students.”
– Mikelle Hillewaere, Administrator at Macomb Academy
Students
Our mission is to transform public education. That is why we provide students with opportunities to choose the education that best fits their needs—because lasting change happens one child at a time.
Student Demographics
We celebrate the unique background of each student that is served in our partner schools.
Spirit of the Future Scholarships
Because learning doesn’t end with a diploma, graduates of our partner high schools can receive financial support to attend CMU. Scholarships offered include the Dr. Leonard E. and Louise A. Plachta Public Charter School Scholarship and The Governor John Engler Center for Charter Schools Scholarship.
2022-23 Recipients
- Abby Adams, Oakland FlexTech High School
- Sarah Hudson, Summit Academy North
- Samantha Rodriguez-Osorio, West Michigan Academy of Environmental Science
Enrollment by Grade
From kindergarten to high school, our partner schools serve more than 28,000 students.
| Grade | Enrollment |
|---|---|
| K | 3,015 |
| 1 | 2,719 |
| 2 | 2,562 |
| 3 | 2,548 |
| 4 | 2,446 |
| 5 | 2,420 |
| 6 | 2,449 |
| 7 | 2,269 |
| 8 | 2,151 |
| 9 | 1,938 |
| 10 | 1,744 |
| 11 | 1,535 |
| 12 | 1,337 |
School Leadership
The board members and school leaders that serve CMU partner schools are instrumental to student success. Their choices, innovations, and resilience offer fresh opportunities for learning and growth.
School Board Members
There are 279 board members transforming public education through their service at CMU partner schools.
Professional Development
At CMU, we’re proud to provide our partner schools with professional development resources that help them fulfill their schools’ missions and support educational achievement.
Offerings include:
- Webinars and in-person events that support school leaders and board members with governance, assessment data, and school finance.
- Professional supports focused on connecting school leaders, leveraging academic data to impact instruction, testing environment best practices, and special education.
- Roundtables for board presidents to discuss topics important to their work.
- Information-packed orientations for new board members to ensure they can be successful in their new roles.
2022 Annual Conference
Every August, we host an annual conference that brings together teachers, board members, school leaders and education stakeholders for a day of professional development to kick off the school year. This year, conference attendees gained valuable resources from a diverse group of speakers while collaborating with colleagues at the highest attended conference in our history.
Research
In pursuit of our mission to transform public education, our team’s Research, Evaluation and Data Analytics efforts are aimed at informing policy and practice.
Continued Examination of Student Achievement and Growth
For decades, researchers will seek to understand the pandemic’s impact on student achievement. Our Research, Evaluation and Data Analysis team already is leading the way, providing an analytical review of student assessment results from March 2020 to the present. This research helps inform schools of their unique results so they can improve their interventions—and forms the basis of future historical analysis.
View ResearchLeading the Conversation on High School Accountability
As an authorizer, we are always seeking ways to continue the development of our accountability measures and oversight practices. An area of focus for our team is evolving the assessment and evaluation of high schools. Through our own research and extensive feedback from our partner high schools, we have explored what a fair and balanced accountability system means for schools serving high school grades and are pleased to share our findings with members of the state and national research communities.
Partnerships
Unique partnerships provide opportunities to students in CMU partner schools.
Charter School Students Take a Step into Their Futures
All of our partner schools have the goal of preparing students for success in college, work, and life. We support this pivotal work by providing connections for students in our partner schools to the programming available at CMU. The focus of our campus visit initiatives is to offer first-hand experiences that show students that they can transform their future by attending college.
Experience Central Offers High School Students a Preview of Their Academic Futures
In September 2022, 295 high school juniors and seniors from 16 CMU partner schools participated in a one-day intensive campus visit. During the visit, they participated in many activities, including joining one of 25 hands-on interactive academic sessions led by CMU faculty. They gained firsthand knowledge of what it takes to prepare for—and succeed in—their chosen fields of study.
Watch VideoCharter Educator Tuition Program
CMU is committed to furthering the education of teachers and school leaders in CMU partner schools. That’s why we offer a 50 percent tuition award to pursue graduate degrees in education at CMU. To date, 86 award recipients have received graduate degrees through this program.
Connecting Counselors to Resources and Colleagues
Our team is connecting high school counselors throughout the state to experts in important fields through our Counselor Connection series. The professional development sessions focused on topics critical to their work as a counselor and offered opportunities for professional networking and support.
Fire Up for your Future
Throughout the 2022-23 school year, 645 eighth-grade students from 17 CMU partner schools took their first steps on their journey to exploring higher education. During their visit, students explored campus, participated in leadership and team-building activities, and learned about opportunities at CMU.
Central Michigan University became Michigan’s first charter public school authorizer—and the nation’s first university authorizer—in 1994.
Our decades of visionary leadership have brought us recognition as a change agent, thought leader, and catalyst for educational innovation. We use our research-driven insights to enrich the work of educators, schools, authorizers, and policymakers alike for the benefit of all.