Giving Compass' Take:

· In a school district strapped for cash, Detroit's Mumford Academy will close and merge with the larger Mumford High School, reports Chalkbeat. The Academy has shown strong academic achievements within the 3 years it was open, but it was housed in a larger school where only one principal was needed.

· What effect will this closing have on the students who attended the Academy? Will this hurt their previous achievements?

· Read more about Detroit's schools.

The Mumford Academy’s future has been in doubt almost from its first day of existence.

The small school tucked inside the larger Mumford High School started with about 100 ninth graders in 2015, but soon faced a series of threats despite some early wins.

There was news in 2016 that the state-run recovery district that created the small school would be dissolved, and it wasn’t clear what would happen to the academy. There was the possibility in 2017 that Mumford High School, along with the academy inside it, could be shut down by the state after landing on a closure list because of years of poor test scores at the bigger school.

But ultimately, it was the issue of cost that doomed the school in 2018, with officials deciding it doesn’t make sense for a cash-strapped district like Detroit to pay two principals in a building that needs only one.

Despite a promising three-year run, the little school will close this week, leaving teachers and students to wonder if they’ll be able to hold on to the family-like community and strong academic achievements of the past three years when they merge with their larger sister school.

Read the full article about the closing school in Detroit by Erin Einhorn at Chalkbeat.