About Gesu
Gesu Elementary School, located at the edge of Detroit’s University District, began with 200 students in
1925 as a ministry of the newly-founded Gesu Catholic Parish. The school grew rapidly in its largely Roman
Catholic neighborhood. Over the years several additions were made to the school until eventually it had three
classrooms of each grade, a large kindergarten, a cafeteria and a gym. At its peak in 1968, Gesu had 1660
children in two buildings.
In the early years, Gesu School offered an excellent basic education. For many years Marygrove College sent students here to learn from the master teachers assigned to the school by the IHM congregation whose sisters staffed the school. Teachers and administration continually adopted educational innovations: strong music and drama programs, a school newspaper, the Workshop Way in the primary grades, a variety of electives for junior high students, and the introduction of computer instruction are some examples. The sports teams were consistent winners in the CYO league.
Today, Gesu School has a well-equipped modern playground, Gesu Community Green, developed collaboratively by the parish and the neighborhood and used both by the school children and the community. Children come from more than thirty-one zip codes in the Detroit metropolitan area to learn at Gesu School. With one classroom of each grade, pre-school through eighth grade, Gesu is only a little bigger than it was when the school opened eighty years ago. However, it has a bright future as a valuable educational presence in Northwest Detroit. All teachers are fully accredited and highly qualified. The teachers and staff share in a strong commitment of collaboration for helping children realize their potential.
Gesu School is uniquely poised to accomplish its mission of providing a quality education in a safe and Christ-centered community where children can develop all their God-given talents, both for their own enrichment and for the benefit of God’s human family and creation.
Gesu School offers:
- accreditation by the Michigan Nonpublic Schools Accreditation Association
- staff and teachers who incorporate Jesuit spirituality and pedagogical methods
- teachers who use national curriculum standards in preparation of lessons
- teachers who use national test results in determining curriculum goals and objectives
- teachers who utilize digital projectors and streaming video for classroom instruction
- social outreach, e.g., Thanksgiving food drive, Toys for Tots, recycling, etc
- new library books and new textbooks in all curriculum areas
- Gym, Spanish and Italian, Art, and Music through a shared time program
- winning sports teams, especially girls’ volleyball and boys’ basketball
- University of Detroit Mercy (UDM) counseling department interns
- 8+ work study students and 10+ service learning students from UDM
- monthly staff development through a UDM education professor
- increased outreach to alumni: tri-annual newsletter, an internet chat room, the annual alumni Mass and the All-School Reunion in May
- web page at http://gesuschool.udmercy.edu, with a link to the alumni message board
- fully-equipped computer lab
- interactive “Smart Board” new laptops for teachers
- development director who started a Development Board with alumni membership
- Second annual G.A.L.A. (Gesu Academic Learning Auction) raffle that raised $24,904 and the silent auction brought in $9,821 for a grand total of $34,723
- Honorable Mention in the 2005 Skillman Foundation Good Schools Initiative
- Improving School in the 2006 Skillman Foundation Good Schools Initiative with $25,000 award
- 54 families receiving Archdiocesan and other grants
- won $10,000 Toyota Tapestry Grant to further the school’s science curriculum
Students receiving special education services: 6%
| Staff | Full-time | Part-Time |
| Administrator(s) | 2 | 0 |
| Classroom teachers | 10 | 4 |
| Special resource teachers/specialists | 0 | 6 |
| Paraprofessionals | 0 | 0 |
| Support staff | 5 | 27 |
| Total number | 17 | 37 |
Gesu is a nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) school.
Current yearly tuition rates:
- Preschool: $4,320.00
- Kindergarten-8th Grade: $4,200.00*
(*Tuition rate for parishioners’ children is $3,900.00 for Grades K through 8).
Our educational cost per student is currently running at approximately $ 5,208.00. The deficit between tuition and actual cost is covered by a combination of fundraising, grants, donations, the Archdiocese of Detroit and the Trinity Vicariate. The average financial aid per student is $ 1,067.40 in 2006-07. Percentage of students receiving financial aid in 2006-07 is 41%, which is up from 2005-06 (34%).
The building contains 36 classrooms. The last major renovations occurred in 2004 with the replacement of the urinals in the boys’ bathrooms with new, state-of-the-art, waterless urinals.
Our numbers in terms of enrollment and staffing have remained fairly stable over the last three years. However, the number of students who are receiving free or reduced lunches has risen significantly, especially this year. We attribute this increase to the general decline of the economy in southeastern Michigan.