When Greater Grace Temple was located elsewhere on 7 Mile Road, about four miles east of where it is today, it bought a former Jewish school and community center located nearby. It re-opened the site in 1979 as the David Ellis Academy, a K-8 public charter school that serves neighborhood children. The property also includes a garage that the church rents to an automobile repair service.
David Ellis Academy currently has 320 students and an affiliate branch, David Ellis Academy West, in nearby Redford. The Redford school, with 847 students, is not owned by the church but remains closely linked. The two schools share the same curriculum and standards.
"We had 250 students on a waiting list for our Detroit location, which prompted us to open a second school. The process took six years," says school principal Machion Jackson. "Both of these schools are very much needed, especially with what the city is going through."
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