Sankofa Shule
{{Short description|Charter school in Lansing, Michigan, USA}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2023}}
Sankofa Shule was a charter school in Lansing, Michigan.
The school's name is a mix of Akan and Swahili words.{{cite news|last=Mayes|first=Mark|title=Area charter schools focus on heritage, accomplishments|newspaper=Lansing State Journal|place=Lansing, Michigan|date=April 5, 1998|page=6A}} – [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/119847011/ Clipping] from Newspapers.com.
History
It was established in 1995. Its original enrollment was 116. For a period it occupied a building that also had a beauty school.{{cite news|last=Andrejevic|first=Mark|title=Lansing students shift to new charter schools|newspaper=Lansing State Journal|place=Lansing, Michigan|date=September 6, 1995|pages=1A–2A}} – [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/119845448/ Clipping of first] and [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/119845567/ of second page] at Newspapers.com. The charter school's authorizer was Central Michigan University.{{cite news|last=Terlep|first=Sharon|title=CMU widens probe of Lansing charter school|newspaper=Lansing State Journal|place=Lansing, Michigan|date=January 4, 2002|pages=1A, 5A}} – [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/119849771/ Clipping of first] and [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/119849794/ of second page] at Newspapers.com.
By 2002 CMU and the school were involved in a conflict over finances.
In 2007 CMU stopped renewing the charter,{{cite news|last=Geary|first=Nicole|title=Sankofa Shule likely to close|newspaper=Lansing State Journal|place=Lansing, Michigan|date=June 9, 2007|pages=1A, 3A}} – [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/119867993/ Clipping of first] and [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/119868034/ of second page] at Newspapers.com. and the school closed.{{cite web|url=https://www.mackinac.org/8648|title=CMU CLOSES LANSING CHARTER SCHOOL |publisher=Mackinac Center for Public Policy|accessdate=2023-02-27}}
Operations
The school used "Baba" and "Mama", from Swahili, as ways to address male and female teachers, and it used variations of the buba as its school uniform. The school featured prominent African-Americans in its decorations.
Students were placed in classes organized by ability instead of traditional grade level classes.{{Cite book|editor-last=Lomotey|editor-first=Kofi
| first= Shariba | last= Rivers
| chapter= Sankofa Shule (Lansing, Michigan)
| pages= 558–560
|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dURVOtUlPKYC&pg=RA1-PA559|title=Encyclopedia of African American Education|date=2010|publisher=SAGE|isbn=978-1-4129-4050-4|language=en}}{{rp|559}}
The physical education curricula included dance styles from the African continent.{{cite news|last=Mayes|first=Mark|title=Segregation creeps back into schools|newspaper=Lansing State Journal|place=Lansing, Michigan|date=1998-04-05|pages=1A, 7A}} - [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120838984/for-lansing-school-district/ Clipping of first] ([https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120839309/ text detail]) and [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120839003/ of second page] ([https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120839692/ text detail 1], [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120839738/ text detail 2], and [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120839783/ text detail 3]) at Newspapers.com.
“Sankofa Shule … produced low-income African American students who could read two to four levels above grade level, who did algebra and calculus in grade school and who out scored the Lansing School District and the state of Michigan on state the accountability test (MEAP) in 2000 in mathematics and in writing. The school was called ‘an educational powerhouse’ by U.S. News & World Report in the April 27, 1998 issue.” Lisa Delpit, Multiplication is for white people raising expectations for other people’s children, 2012
Curriculum
The school used an Afrocentric curriculum. The school had foreign language classes for Swahili, French, Japanese, and Spanish.
See also
- El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz Academy – Afrocentric charter school in Lansing established in 1995 and closed in 2019
- List of public school academy districts in Michigan
References
- {{cite book|last=Rivers|first=Shariba|chapter=Sankofi Shule|chapter-url=https://sk.sagepub.com/reference/africanamericaneducation/n206.xml|title=Encyclopedia of African American Education|year=2010 |editor=Kofi Lomotey|via=SAGE Reference|doi=10.4135/9781412971966|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=dURVOtUlPKYC&dq=%E2%80%9Cone+of+the+educational+powerhouses+of+charter+schools%E2%80%9D&pg=RA1-PA558 558]-[https://books.google.com/books?id=dURVOtUlPKYC&pg=RA1-PA560 560]|isbn=9781412940504 }} – ISBNs for the Google Books pages: 1412940508, 9781412940504 – [https://concepts.sagepub.com/vocabularies/social-science/en/page/?uri=https://concepts.sagepub.com/social-science/concept/Sankofa_Shule see entry in the thesaurus]
=Notes=
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/*/https://www.sankofa-shule.org|title=Sankofa Shule}}
{{Lansing, Michigan}}
{{Education in Ingham County, Michigan}}
Category:Buildings and structures in Lansing, Michigan
Category:Education in Lansing, Michigan
Category:Charter schools in Michigan
Category:1995 establishments in Michigan
Category:Educational institutions established in 1995