The Wilmington Learning Collaborative's priority is filling out the remaining seats of its governing board and hiring an executive director. (Unsplash)

Learning Collab still has 5 vacant board seats

Jarek RutzHeadlines, Education

The Wilmington Learning Collaborative will have to wait until next month for Christina School District to select its parent representative to serve on the group’s governing council.  In its monthly board meeting Tuesday, Christina’s school board announced it is still reviewing applications from four parents vying for the seat.  “We have not had the number of applicants that we would …

Brandywine School District will explore new ways to formally evaluate Superintendent Lincoln Hohler this year.

Brandywine seeks help on superintendent evaluation 

Jarek RutzHeadlines, Education

The Brandywine School District voted Monday night to explore using the same new model for evaluate its superintendent that Christina decided to consider two months ago. The vote came after Brandywine School Board member Ralph Ackerman recommended contacting the Delaware School Boards Association to set up a workshop to talk about its program they would use with Superintendent Lincoln Hohler. …

District school boards are responsible with hiring and evaluating the superintendent. (Unsplash)

Many Del. districts don’t evaluate superintendents annually

Jarek RutzHeadlines, Education

Even though the job of superintendent of education is one of the most powerful in a school district, many Delaware districts don’t perform annual reviews of theirs. “Some boards have a formal review, and some don’t,” said Donald Patton, board member of Christina School District. He was a teacher and principal for decades before being elected in May. “How do …

Red Clay board member pushes transparency for Wilmington Learning Collab.

 Red Clay board member questions Learning Collab’s transparency

Jarek RutzEducation, Headlines

  A Red Clay Consolidated School District board member is pressing the new Wilmington Learning Collaborative to advertise meetings. Cathy Thompson, the former head of the board, asked Superintendent Dorrell Green to ensure that the newly-created board is as transparent as possible during their Nov. 16 meeting. The Learning Collaborative’s memorandum of understanding was signed Nov. 1 by members of …

School districts have until Dec. 1 to approve class size waivers. (Unsplash)

School district class size waivers moving through

Jarek RutzHeadlines, Education

Schools up and down the First State are asking their school boards to allow them to put more than 22 students in elementary school classes. Boards have until Dec. 1 to submit waiver requests to the state Department of Education. The waivers are required by Delaware law for kindergarten through third grade students in the core academic subjects of English/Language …

The Learning Collab needs to fill out the remaining seats of its governing council and conduct a needs assessment of each school. (Pexels)

Here’s what the Learning Collab will do to get started

Jarek RutzHeadlines, Education

The Wilmington Learning Collaborative already is forming the council that will govern it. Once the council is established, it will order a needs assessment, which will help the council decide where to put or share resources. Those are the starting tasks of the new education group that state, city and district officials hope will help raise learning and test scores …

The Wilmington Learning Collaborative will officially be created Tuesday. (Pexels)

Learning Collaborative agreement to be signed Tuesday

Jarek RutzHeadlines, Education

After five years of planning and months of school board debates, stakeholders will gather Tuesday to sign the agreement creating the Wilmington Learning Collaborative. The Learning Collaborative is a voluntary network of schools in Wilmington across three school districts: Brandywine, Christina and Red Clay. Its goal is to create city-wide consistency and improve outcomes for students in Wilmington schools. RELATED: …

All three districts have voted to create and join the Wilmington Learning Collaborative.

3 for 3: Red Clay says yes to Learning Collab

Jarek RutzHeadlines, Education

Red Clay Consolidated School District voted unanimously Wednesday night to create and join the Wilmington Learning Collaborative. That makes them the third and final district to commit. Christina and Brandywine school boards already had agreed to sign the memorandum of understanding to create the agency.  Red Clay Board Member Adriana Bohm for weeks has called for the version of the …

The four district superintendents watch from the front row as Jon Cooper, director of student services at Colonial, announces the new wellness centers.

New Castle launches 4 elementary wellness centers

Jarek RutzHeadlines, Education

Four New Castle County elementary schools are getting wellness centers that will offer medical, mental health and nutrition services to vulnerable students. Appoquinimink’s Louis L. Redding Middle School – which also serves Silver Lake Elementary – Christina’s Brookside, Colonial’s McCullough, and Red Clay’s Richardson Park elementary schools will receive $250,000 in funding for the next two years, for a total …

Brandywine School District becomes the second district to join the Wilmington Learning Collaborative.

Brandywine says yes to Wilmington Learning Collab

Jarek RutzHeadlines, Education

The Brandywine School District followed the leader and voted unanimously Monday night to join the Wilmington Learning Collaborative. The vote follows the Christina School District’s unanimous vote last week.  Next up, and last to vote, will be the Red Clay Consolidated School District when it meets Wednesday, Oct. 9,  at 7 p.m. That meeting can be livestreamed here. The Brandywine …