The School at Marygrove honors its inaugural graduating class

On May 31, 2023 The School at Marygrove’s first graduating class walked across the stage at the Music Hall Center for Performing Arts in Detroit to receive their high school diplomas. Chalkbeat reporter Ethan Bakuli described the event as “a milestone in Detroit’s education history.”

A collaboration between U-M’s Marsal Family School of Education, The Kresge Foundation, Detroit Public Schools Community District, and the Marygrove Conservancy, The School at Marygrove (TSM) opened in 2019. Eighty-seven students who started as freshmen in 2019 were among the graduates who received diplomas this spring. Nine other graduates enrolled in the school in between its founding year and graduation.

“We envisioned a place where education would transcend traditional boundaries,” said Michael Chrzan, the founding math teacher at TSM. “We set out on a journey to create a safe haven of learning, a place where critical thinking and community-mindedness would flourish.”

Hundreds of people came out to celebrate the inaugural graduating class, including Michigan Supreme Court Justice Kyra Bolden, who gave the commencement speech. 

TSM senior Raijuan Lenoir marveled at the significance of the event. 

“It feels kind of weird,” Lenoir said. “One hundred years from now, we’re still going to be the first students to ever graduate from this school.”