Detroit-area schools woo students with Count Day fun

Schools in Metro Detroit and across Michigan used special menus, fun activities and other incentives Wednesday to persuade students to show up for the state’s fall Count Day.

At Burton International Academy, more than 50 MGM Grand Detroit volunteers were “taking over” the Detroit school.

Chefs from the casino-hotel manned the school’s cafeteria for the day, preparing special meals for students.

MGM staff members also read to youngsters and ran “selfie stations” where children could be photographed. Students also played on inflatables outside.

The school unveiled a “Bobcat Retail Store,” to be stocked by MGM Grand Detroit with toys, games and ball caps students can earn for good behavior and academic performance.

Throughout DPS, parents were offered free breakfasts and reduced-price lunches that included baked chicken, collard greens, potato salad, mac & cheese, cornbread muffins and apple pie.

“In order to attain our goal of having a school system that is academically competitive, it is critical that students attend school all day, every day,” DPS Emergency Manager Darnell Earley said in a statement.

In other Metro Detroit schools, Count Day activities included a “dress down” day and free pizza and ice cream for lunch at Bradford Academy charter school in Southfield. The school also said each homeroom class with perfect attendance Wednesday would win a “party of their choice.”

“When Count Day accurately reflects the number of enrolled students, Bradford Academy receives the appropriate funding necessary to provide academic and extracurricular resources for each student,” principal Cheryl Paull said in a statement posted on the school’s website.

Fall Count Day attendance is used to calculate 90 percent of per-pupil funding from the state, with the remainder based on a winter Count Day in February.

— The Detroit News