Michigan Governor Rick Snyder announced a new plan that will transform blighted neighborhoods into vibrant neighborhoods anchored by community schools.
 

Pathways to Potential, as the plan is being called, empowers communities to transform blighted properties and vacant lots back into productive, communal use, including establishing neighborhoods schools that will serve as hubs for their communities. These neighborhoods will be targeted for housing rehabilitation and community beautification efforts with the community school becoming the focal point of the community.
 

Nine Detroit Public Schools are targeted to be a part of the program beginning with the struggling Morningside neighborhood. State social workers will be placed in each school. Family Resource Centers will also be established at each school.
 

State officials modeled the community schools aspect of the Pathways to Potential plan on the successful community schools in Grand Rapids under the Kent School Services Network. In fact, state officials produced a video on the amazing transformation at Sibley Elementary in Grand Rapids to show during the governor’s press conference.
 

The plan is also slated to include Flint, Saginaw, and Pontiac