2018 Hazel Park Schools Communicator : MI Excel Work Helping All Students Excel
MI EXCEL WORK IS A STATEWIDE SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT INITIATIVE designed to fill in student achievement gaps, and ensure students are receiving a top-notch education across the board by narrowing in on the school that needs it the most.
“We joined the MI Excel (Blueprint) work in December of 2015,” explained Corri Nastasi, Hazel Park’s Webb 
Elementary School Principal. “Our district was invited to learn about this work due to the fact that at the time we had a school – Hoover Elementary – on the Focus Schools list for the state.”
School Board Trustee, Rachel Noth added, “Three years ago we had a district that was struggling. We had found out that we were in deficit, central office staff had resigned, and we had to think about the future of our District.
During that time, we worked with Oakland Schools and the State of Michigan to get a deficit elimination plan together. Once that was set, we then went through the grueling process of hiring a superintendent. Fortunately, we were able to find Dr. Amy Kruppe. Dr. Kruppe and some of our staff went to a conference where Grant Chandler was speaking about MI Excel. When they came back they were really inspired about the program, and knew that it could help our District. From there, the board adopted the MI Excel framework.”
In order to bring the curriculum up to state standards at Hoover by building capacity needed to increase student achievement and decrease achievement gaps, administrators decided to implement MI Excel. “The 
work we are doing involves an overhaul of how we do business – a systemic reconfiguration,” Nastasi explained. “MI Excel has developed a blueprint of systems that are proven through research to be effective. There is a specific plan for different stages throughout the implementation process. The focus is to put systems in place that will help us more effectively provide quality education for our students.”
Board President, Laura Adkins, said, “Thankfully Hoover Elementary is no longer a Focus School, but we are continuing to use MI Excel. The District has had a lot of change during the last few years, and implementing this program has definitely contributed to that. The School Board is excited about the progress that the Hazel Park School District is making.”
Specific goals for Hazel Park’s district include a desire “to put systems and procedures in place to improve the quality of our work in the district in a short amount of time. The ultimate goal is to increase student achievement for our students,” according to Nastasi.
Unfortunately, because of the aggressive timeline proposed to reconfigure current systems and the complications that come along with overhauling existing processes, the District has realized a few challenges along the way.
“There have been some minor setbacks as we push forward to do this hard work in a short amount of time. Many times it involves us going back and reviewing some things or improving procedures,” Nastasi explained, but added that staff realizes it’s important to implement change.
“This program is important to all staff because it helps our district function as a complete system, so 
whichever building you are working at will have the same procedures policies and systems in place. It also provides a predictable structure for how we do business. K-12 curriculum and assessments have been written and are updated yearly based on teacher feedback,” she said.
By rolling out MI Excel, Hazel Park will operate more consistently as a district, and this consistency helps ease information flow and ensure that all students are receiving the same educational standards. Nastasi said, “All of the buildings are on the same page. There is much more consistency across our systems. There is more discussion about the importance of teaching and learning. Teachers and administrators work together to improve instruction on a regular basis. We are more tuned in to not only the academic needs, but also the non-academic needs of students.”
Asked what the future of using MI Excel within Hazel Park’s schools looks like, Nastasi explained, “We are currently using the MI Excel framework as we do the work of teaching and learning on a regular basis. This was rolled out in January of 2016 and has been a continuous work in progress. The future of this framework involves a consistent processfor utilizing the framework, collecting data from students, community members, and staff, and making updates and improvements to the systems as needed. The ideal future is that all systems are in place and being utilized confidently by all Hazel Park stakeholders for the continued success of our students and families.”
For more information on MI Excel Works, please visit the Department of Education at www.michigan.gov and visit the MI Excel Resource Center at
www.miexcelresourcecenter.org
