Michael Stafford, director of the Cranbrook Institute of Science, shows Ronald Brown Academy students rare artifacts in the collections rooms. (Daniel Mears / The Detroit News)
Bloomfield Hills— In a groundbreaking partnership between the Cranbrook Institute of Science and the Detroit Public Schools, students from DPS will make weekly visits to the nationally renowned museum and have unprecedented hands-on access to the institute's collections.
Officials from Cranbrook and DPS announced the educational partnership Thursday. It will give DPS students a full day experience at the museum with in-depth exposure to science and technology, plus training for DPS teachers and memberships for families living in the district.
Michael Stafford, director of the institute, said the arrangement gives DPS students private use of the museum and exposure to its collection of 250,000 to 500,000 artifacts dating back centuries.
"The kids are going to get a tailored program that matches … (science) benchmarks that will help them with their core skills and on the MEAP," said Stafford, an archaeologist.
Roy Roberts, DPS emergency manager, was elated by the partnership, which has been under discussion since August.
Roberts acknowledged DPS students have done poorly on standardized tests in science, saying that was the district's fault, not the students'. Last year, DPS scored the worst nationally among large urban districts on a national science test.
"It will change their lives. They will look at the world differently," Roberts said.
Cranbrook discounts programming for DPS, and the district will pay for the programming through private donations, Cranbrook officials said.
Only two other schools — Cranbrook and Southfield Christian — have similar access to the museum, officials said.
Students from DPS' Ronald Brown Academy were at Cranbrook on Thursday for the announcement. Ten youngsters donned white linen conservation gloves and entered a private collections area where they were told to do what many museums prohibit: handle the artifacts.
"It feels good to touch these things," said fourth-grader Michelle Oliver, as she quickly tapped the taxidermy head of a Bengal tiger. "It's my first time in a science museum."
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