• COVID-19 Resources
  • About
  • Subscribe
  • Promotions
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • July 15, 2025

Milwaukee Courier Weekly Newspaper

"THE NEWSPAPER YOU CAN TRUST SINCE 1964"

  • News
  • Editorials
  • Education
  • Urban Business
  • Health
  • Religion
  • Upcoming Events
  • Classifieds

Share:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Tweet
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print

MPS Celebrates Star of Year-Round Schools Building on Past Achievements and Focused on Future Successes

August 8, 2015

A student at MPS’ Starms Early Childhood Center.

A student at MPS’ Starms Early Childhood Center.

Milwaukee Public Schools leaders and community partners marked the beginning of the new school year – Day One – for the district’s year-round calendar schools this past Monday with 3-, 4- and 5-year-old Kindergarten students.

The district’s first Day One event took place at 8:50 a.m. on Monday, August 3 at MPS’ Frances Brock Starms Early Childhood Center.

Milwaukee Board of School Directors member Annie Woodward, who represents the district that includes the school, will join MPS Superintendent Dr. Darienne Driver and partners including Interfaith Older Adult Programs, Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, Molina Healthcare and Neighborhood House of Milwaukee to mark the start of the year.

Starms Early Childhood is one of 11 MPS schools on the year-round calendar. Schools on MPS’ King/ Reagan calendar begin August 10 and the vast majority of MPS schools – those on the traditional calendar – begin September 1.

The 2015-16 school year comes as MPS saw significant successes in 2014-15, including: the MPS Class of 2015 earned a record-breaking $39 million in scholarships, seven MPS high schools were rated among the best in the state and nation, according to U.S. News and World Report and the Washington Post, and a record 82 MPS schools were honored for reinforcing positive behavior and supporting learning needs of all students.

“These successes fuel our push to do more because we must continue to improve to meet the needs of our young people.

We are on a mission to ensure equity, access and opportunity for every child in MPS,” Dr. Driver said.

“We know what our young people are capable of achieving and it is our responsibility to help them achieve it.

We are grateful for the partners who recognize that everyone in our community has a stake in the education of our students.” Mission critical to helping students achieve is ensuring every student is in class all day — Day One and every day.

In addition to a focus on boosting attendance above the district’s current 90% average, MPS’ efforts in 2015-16 will focus on literacy across all subjects.

MPS is working to strengthen the incorporation of reading and writing into subjects such as science and social studies to boost literacy.

The system will also rethink high schools to better serve students.

MPS has created a new support system to address the unique needs of high schools and convened a group of educators, business leaders and community partners to help in the work.

It will continue to implement the Regional Development Plan to create more enrollment opportunities in high-performing schools.

MPS is building additions to high-performing Fernwood and Maryland Avenue Montessori schools, exploring a second campus for the successful Milwaukee Spanish Immersion School, creating a comprehensive middle school for the gifted and talented on the northwest side and approving successful charter school expansions to serve more students including at Hmong American Peace Academy and Universal Academy for the College Bound.

In addition, MPS will provide additional support for reading and math interventions.

Interventions are a critical tool to help students who may be struggling advance to grade level and to help give those students who are already on grade level an opportunity to continue to accelerate their learning.

Finally, the system will continue its commitment to the arts.

MPS has appointed a new fine arts manager, the district is maintaining the 140 new art, music and physical education positions added over the past three years and it is working through a new collaborative involving dozens of local partners to strengthen arts opportunities for MPS students.

Share:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Tweet
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print

Popular Interests In This Article: Darienne Driver, Frances Brock Starms Early Childhood Center, Math Interventions, Milwaukee Public Schools, MPS, Reading Interventions

Read More - Related Articles

  • MPS Students Excel at SkillsUSA Competition
  • Police Officers are Now in MPS. Here’s What You Need to Know
  • Concerns About New MPS Superintendent and HYA Search Firm
  • We Must Continue to Fight for a Better Public School System in Milwaukee
  • What Do You Want to See in the Next MPS Superintendent? Here’s How to Make Your Voice Heard.
Become Our Fan On Facebook
Find Us On Facebook


Follow Us On X
Follow Us On X

Editorials

Lakeshia Myers
Michelle Bryant
Dr. Kweku Akyirefi Amoasi formerly known as Dr. Ramel Smith

Journalists

Karen Stokes

Topics

Health Care & Wellness
Climate Change
Upcoming Events
Obituaries
Milwaukee NAACP

Politicians

David Crowley
Cavalier Johnson
Marcelia Nicholson
Governor Tony Evers
President Joe Biden
Vice President Kamala Harris
Former President Barack Obama
Gwen Moore
Milele A. Coggs
Spencer Coggs

Classifieds

Job Openings
Bid Requests
Req Proposals
Req Quotations
Apts For Rent

Contact Us

Milwaukee Courier
2003 W. Capitol Dr.
Milwaukee, WI 53206
Ph: 414.449.4860
Fax: 414.906.5383

Copyright © 2025 · Courier Communications | View Privacy Policy | Site built and maintained by Farrell Marketing Technology LLC
We use third-party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit our website. These companies may use information (not including your name, address, email address, or telephone number) about your visits to this and other websites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices about not having this information used by these companies, click here.