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 says yes to Wilmington Learning Collab
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 …
Here’s what changed in Learning Collab’s final agreement
Changes in the final version of the agreement to create the Wilmington Learning Collaborative include giving schools hiring power, tasking site-based councils with curricula recommendations, and outlining requirements for individual membership. Those changes were designed to address concerns that board members of the participating districts – Christina, Red Clay and Brandywine – discussed over the past five months, delaying the …
Boost ‘22 collab results in 88% of city students graduating
Boost ’22, an initiative to raise graduation rates among seniors in the city of Wilmington, resulted in 88% of those seniors crossing the graduation stage last May, nearly 20% more than 2015. The initiative is a joint effort of five school districts, used one-on-one tutoring and mentoring, college visits, counseling services and more to make sure 435 out of 496 …
Christina first district to agree to join Learning Collab
After five years of planning and months of discussions around the agreement, Christina School District’s school board voted unanimously Monday night to sign the Wilmington Learning Collaborative agreement. The vote came just after 9 p.m. Monday, two hours after the meeting started. “If in some period of time, all of our third graders can read proficiently at grade three, it …
Learning Collab officials want deal signed before November
Wilmington Learning Collaborative officials are asking its member districts for a definitive vote by the end of October. “We have asked for a vote in October because we really need to get the board appointed, get the executive director hired, and that’s going to take some time,” said Jon Sheehan, chief of policy and senior advisor to the governor, during …
9/11 in Delaware: 7 ways to honor those we lost
America’s schoolchildren weren’t alive for the horrors of Sept. 11, 2001, now dubbed Patriot Day by many. The First State will honor the nearly 3,000 people killed and the thousands of first responders who risked their lives to protect civilians that in a variety of programs. “It’s important because there’s a whole generation that did not experience what many of …
School boards lay out worries, support for Learning Collaborative
A joint meeting Tuesday of the Brandywine, Christina and Red Clay school districts about the Wilmington Learning Collaborative featured a lively discussion, but still no vote. The 21 board members were joined by Gov. John Carney, Education Secretary Mark Holodick and other key education officials. While no one outright opposed the learning collaborative, some expressed concern about the …
Teachers no longer granted 10-day COVID leave
For the first time since fall 2020, Delaware teachers will not be granted paid COVID-19 leave. That means they have to use their normal sick leave if they or a family member gets sick. “The argument can be made that we’re further away from the craziness of COVID, so I get it,” said Jennifer Saunders, who’s taught in Red Clay …
Nativity Prep principal believes God guided her into teaching
Shaquona Meyers, the new Nativity Preparatory School principal, offers a swift, brief answer when asked why she took the job at the private Wilmington boys school. “God told me to,” she said. “God gave me the call and here I am.” A self-proclaimed “no-nonsense nurturer,” Meyers never intended to go into teaching as she was growing up, even though she …