By: Maria Allard | Roseville-Eastpointe Eastsider | Published March 25, 2026
EASTPOINTE — Officials in Eastpointe Community Schools are in the process of entering into a partnership agreement with the Michigan Department of Education in an effort to improve student achievement at Eastpointe High School and Eastpointe Middle School.
At the March 9 Board of Education meeting, Superintendent Christina Gibson said both schools have been identified for comprehensive support, which requires a three-year partnership agreement with the Michigan Department of Education.
A partnership agreement is a formal collaboration designed to turn around low-performing schools by bringing in various partners and resources. Educators identify a plan of support and interventions to improve academics.
“Eastpointe Middle School, this is a group of students we’ve seen struggling, so we will be targeting some of our intervention and our support,” Gibson said.
The middle school has been identified as being in the bottom 5% in performance in the state.
EHS fell short of being released from the partnership agreement during the last three-year cycle because of the school’s graduation rate. One issue for the lagging graduation rates stems from students not being at the high school all four years from ninth through 12th grade.
“We have a transient student population that comes into our school and then goes out from our school. That is quite problematic for graduation data. If a student moves in that senior year and doesn’t reenroll into another school or drops out after moving or leaving, they don’t count towards our graduation rate,” Gibson said. “So, when we do calculate our graduation rate by full academic year students — they start the year with us, they graduate from us — our graduation rate is actually up in the 90s.
“Where we see children who struggle (are) kids who have high mobility and move from school to school to school,” Gibson said. “Maybe there’s housing instability from the family. Maybe there are other life situations that happen. But it’s not an excuse and we’re going to continue to target and support our children.”
There is a partnership timeline.
“Our principals have already been having data review meetings at the Macomb Intermediate School District,” Gibson said. “We are having a data progress review of where we are as well as looking at the comprehensive needs assessment. Where are we hitting the mark? Where do we still have room to grow? What supports do our students need? How do we align our resources to drive what they need?”
Educators have drafted academic goals for both schools. They include increasing scores in reading and math in the Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress state assessment. Educators also will have a strong emphasis on local assessments including iReady and Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) assessment. Chronic absenteeism also will be a focus.
During the meeting, Gibson also informed the school board that Eastpointe Community Schools finalized a consortium agreement with South Lake Schools that will expand Career Technical Education access for high school students in both districts.
Eastpointe students will now have the opportunity to access automotive technology courses at South Lake High School. Additionally, South Lake High School students can now enroll in law enforcement courses at EHS. Many school board members commented on the program.
“I just wanted to reiterate the consortium agreement is an excellent idea,” board Trustee Shelly Cioppa said. “I’m very excited about it.”
Board Secretary Edward Williams agreed.
“I’m real excited about the CTE program collaboration. That’s huge. I remember in high school we had auto mechanics and different things like that,” Williams said. “To see it disappear but now coming back is exciting.”