DETROIT – It was the news that came as a shock, just weeks into the school year, Delta Preparatory Academy suddenly closed.
ORIGINAL STORY: Detroit Delta Preparatory Academy announces plans to shut down
It was a move that left parents scrambling to find new schools with the academic year already underway. After a major effort, all of those students have found a place at a new school.
It’s like the first day of school, but in the middle of the year, for several students at Detroit Edison Public School Academy.
“I feel welcomed,” senior Matthew Booker said.
Booker is one of the new students at Detroit Edison, after his old school Detroit Delta Preparatory Academy, shut down out of the blue.
The closure left several seniors with nowhere to go.
“Stressful, most definitely stressful, figuring out which school I’m going to go to,” Booker said.
Yolanda Eddins, with Detroit Edison, said school officials invited those seniors to the school for a ‘Show and Tell.’
“Of course everybody was concerned, the kids won’t have a place to go. Many who reached out, it was their senior year,” Yolanda Eddins said.
Principal Shirley Brown said exactly a week later, the kids were enrolled and ready to go.
“I think the transition is more anxiety because it’s new, it’s different. They’re children so it’s a matter of giving them some time to fit but they wanted to be here,” Brown said.
The school has a section called ‘College Avenue’ in the hallway that shows acceptance letters from colleges from previous students. Current students said this wall is something they can look forward to.
"It makes me see my future, and what I can do,” student Jalil Bell said.
It’s a future Bell wasn’t so sure about. He attended Detroit Delta Prep, but not only is this a new chapter for him, he also has new look.
So with a new school and a new look, they also have a new perspective on their futures.
“Yes, of course, I plan on going to college. Major in psychology,” Booker said.
“Michigan State. That’s probably, the college I’m going to,” Jalil Bell said.