Involving Students in Building School Culture

Detroit Prep may be a young school, but we are hard at work building school culture as we grow. The best way to do this is to involve the very people we are intended to serve – our students! As our students get older and transition into Upper School, we try hard to proactively include their voices and opinions in decisions and traditions that will build our school culture.

One example of this is our 8th grade Mascot Committee. Since early May, a small group of students has been working collaboratively with Ms. Kyle (Co-Founder and Executive Director) and Ms. Jen (Co-Founder and Head of School) to decide on a mascot for our school, as a gift from the Class of 2024 to Detroit Prep. Although this type of student voice was reserved for 8th graders, there are many other opportunities for students to build school culture. As part of our Friday Clubs in Upper School, students have had a chance to brainstorm and write articles for our school Newspaper. In addition, students frequently propose other ideas to build our school culture – whether it’s an idea for a talent show or a research paper on ways that we can adjust our practices as students get older, Upper School students are frequently involved in building a positive school culture for our whole crew!

“Since early May, a small group of students has been working collaboratively with Ms. Kyle and Ms. Jen (Co-Founder and Head of School) to decide on a mascot for our school, as a gift from the Class of 2024 to Detroit Prep. “

“Whether it’s an idea for a talent show or a research paper on ways that we can adjust our practices as students get older, Upper School students are frequently involved in building a positive school culture for our whole crew!”