 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(June 2016) |
The Leona Group (TLG) is a private company operating charter schools in the states of Arizona, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio. It was founded in 1996 in Michigan by Dr. William Coats and operates 66 schools.
In 1996, Cesar Chavez Academy in Detroit, Michigan, was the first charter school to partner with the Leona Group, initially serving students in grades K-5; it now serves more than 2,000 students in all grades at five Detroit campuses. The next year, The Leona Group expanded to Arizona and opened five charter high schools in metro Phoenix; it would relocate its headquarters to Arizona in 2000.
In 2001, the Leona Group broadened its reach to serve students in Ohio, beginning with Eagle Academy, which opened in Toledo. In 2002, three additional Leona Group schools opened in Toledo, along with the organization's first school in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The Leona Group has since expanded its operations in Arizona and moved into the Florida market.
In 2012, The Leona Group was selected to take over operation of the Highland Park, Michigan School District after it was ordered chartered by an emergency manager. [1] Leona renamed the system to Highland Park Public School Academy System, but it continued to bleed students and run into a variety of headwinds. After the high school was shuttered in 2015, the last remaining school in the system, an elementary school serving grades K through 8, received an "F" grade from state authorities. [2]
In 2013, Michigan education advocates criticized the Leona Group's operation of the Cesar Chavez Academy, finding that test scores in 2012 were lower than those of the public schools in Detroit. [3] In 2014, CCA's original elementary school scored in the second percentile on state exams. [4] Financial problems and sliding test scores prompted the closure of another Leona charter school in Detroit, Allen Academy, at the end of the 2015–16 school year, when the authorizing agent opted to terminate its relationship a year after broadening its relationship to incorporate other management companies. [5]
In 2015, after it obtained an "F" rating from the state for the 2013–14 school year, the chartering agent of one of The Leona Group's schools in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Timothy L. Johnson Academy, threatened to close the school at the end of the year if improvements were not made. [6] Ultimately, the school's charter was renewed for a two-year term. [7]
Fort Wayne is a city in the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Allen County, United States. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is 18 miles (29 km) west of the Ohio border and 50 miles (80 km) south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 270,402 as of the 2019 Census estimate making it the second-most populous city in Indiana after Indianapolis, and the 75th-most populous city in the United States. It is the principal city of the Fort Wayne metropolitan area, consisting of Allen, Wells, and Whitley counties, a combined population of 419,453 as of 2011. Fort Wayne is the cultural and economic center of northeastern Indiana. In addition to the three core counties, the combined statistical area (CSA) includes Adams, DeKalb, Huntington, Noble, and Steuben counties, with an estimated population of 615,077.
Wayne County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of 2019, the United States Census estimated its population as 1,749,343 making it the 19th-most populous county in the United States. The county seat is Detroit. The county was founded in 1796 and organized in 1815. Wayne County is included in the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is one of several U.S. counties named after Revolutionary War-era general Anthony Wayne.
Hamtramck is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 22,423. Hamtramck is surrounded by the city of Detroit except for a small portion of the western border that touches the similarly surrounded city of Highland Park. Hamtramck is by far the most densely-populated municipality in the state of Michigan.
Highland Park is a city in Wayne County, Michigan, and part of the Metro Detroit. The population was 11,776 at the 2010 census. Along with Hamtramck, the city is completely surrounded by Detroit.
The Territory of Michigan was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from June 30, 1805, until January 26, 1837, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Michigan. Detroit was the territorial capital.
The Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway, established in 1833 and sometimes referred to as the Lake Shore, was a major part of the New York Central Railroad's Water Level Route from Buffalo, New York, to Chicago, Illinois, primarily along the south shore of Lake Erie and across northern Indiana. The line's trackage is still used as a major rail transportation corridor and hosts Amtrak passenger trains, with the ownership in 1998 split at Cleveland between CSX to the east, and Norfolk Southern in the west.
Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD) is a school district that covers all of the city of Detroit, Michigan, United States and high school students in the insular city of Highland Park. The district, which replaced the original Detroit Public Schools (DPS) in 2016, provides services to approximately 50,000 students, making it the largest school district in the state. The district has its headquarters in the Fisher Building of the New Center area of Detroit.
The Grand Rapids Public Schools is a public school district serving Grand Rapids, Michigan.
César Chávez Academy - Academia César Chávez is a K-12 public charter school in Detroit, Michigan. It is operated by The Leona Group, an operator of charter schools in Arizona, Florida, Michigan, and Ohio.
Detroit Collegiate Preparatory Academy at Northwestern is a public high school in Detroit, Michigan; it replaced the previous Northwestern High School and is a part of Detroit Public Schools. The most recent enrollment figures for Northwestern indicate a student population of approximately 2,000.
Hamtramck Public Schools (HPS) is a public school district based in the city of Hamtramck, Michigan (USA) in Greater Detroit.
Highland Park Community High School was a public high school in Highland Park, Michigan. About 775 students attended Highland Park in about 2012. Its mascot is the polar bears, and its school colors are blue and white. It was a part of Highland Park Schools, but had been operated as a charter school by Leona Group as the Highland Park Renaissance High School from August 2012, until the end of the 2014–2015 school year, when it was scheduled to close. It was later bulldozed and is now a vacant lot like many other Detroit bulldozed abandoned schools.
Highland Park Schools, officially the School District of the City of Highland Park, is a school district headquartered in Highland Park, Michigan, United States in Greater Detroit. The district serves the city of Highland Park, a total of 2.98 square miles (7.7 km2) of land.
Transportation in metropolitan Detroit is provided by a system of transit services, airports, and an advanced network of freeways which interconnect the city of Detroit and the Detroit region. The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) administers the region's network of major roads and freeways. The region offers mass transit with bus services provided jointly by the Detroit Department of Transportation (DDOT) and the Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation (SMART) through a cooperative service and fare agreement administered by the Regional Transit Authority (RTA). Cross border service between the downtown areas of Windsor and Detroit is provided by Transit Windsor via the Tunnel Bus. A monorail system, known as the People Mover, operates daily through a 2.94 mile (4.7 km) loop in the downtown area. A proposed SEMCOG Commuter Rail could link New Center, Dearborn, Detroit Metropolitan Airport, and Ann Arbor with access to DDOT and SMART buses. Amtrak's current passenger facility is north of downtown in the New Center area. Amtrak provides service to Detroit, operating its Wolverine service between Chicago, Illinois, and Pontiac. Greyhound Lines operates a station on Howard Street near Michigan Avenue. The city's dock and public terminal receives cruise ships on International Riverfront near the Renaissance Center which complements tourism in metropolitan Detroit.
National Heritage Academies, Inc. (NHA) is a for-profit education management organization headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan. As of the 2019-20 school year, NHA operates 88 charter schools in nine states: Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, New York, North Carolina, Colorado, Georgia, Louisiana, and Wisconsin. NHA is the largest charter school operator in Michigan and one of the largest charter school operators in the United States. NHA schools are prominent among charter institutions for employing the brick and mortar or traditional school concept.
Springwells is a neighborhood in Southwest Detroit, near the Ford Motor Company River Rouge Plant.
The Wabash Railroad was a Class I railroad that operated in the mid-central United States. It served a large area, including track in the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, and Missouri and the province of Ontario. Its primary connections included Chicago, Illinois; Kansas City, Missouri; Detroit, Michigan; Buffalo, New York; St. Louis, Missouri; and Toledo, Ohio.
Islam is practiced by several Muslim American groups in Metro Detroit.
George Washington Carver Academy is a public PreKindergarten-8 charter school in Highland Park, Michigan in Metro Detroit.
 | This United States corporation or company article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
