Detroit Public School Community District
Bennett Elementary
Bennett Elementary School was selected as a BTH school because their English Learners showed exceptional academic growth as demonstrated by exceeding the statewide above average growth rates in both ELA and Math for 3 straight years. Bennett Elementary teachers employ targeted and differentiated instructional strategies to ensure their English Learners have the tools to grow in proficiency year after year.
Additionally, the school engages families through a variety of linguistically-responsive communications, including an app that provides translation for monolingual parents and caregivers. An EL Interventionist is also on staff to further assist students towards growth in English fluency and content mastery. Finally, Bennett sees great success with its Scholar Dollars incentive program, which has positively impacted behavior and attendance and provides opportunities to celebrate student achievement.
I noticed that the teachers … did the training for culturally responsive teaching. They build [the] background knowledge of students and they respect the individuality of each student, the culture of each student, and they make sure that [for] each student in our school, they’re proud of their culture.”
ESL Teacher
84%
of the student population come from low-income households
89%
are students of color
56%
are English Learner students
Students first. As a school, we know what our students need. We’re constantly trying to meet their needs so that students can advance in the world. We identify where each student is at and create an individual learning plan, where teachers will actually indicate what strategies can be used in order for that child to learn. Each child will have their own individual plan showing where they currently are in English and how they can perform in their work level.”
Principal
