There are more than 70 libraries across the state that share 2.5 million ebooks and print books for the benefit of Delawareans.

Delaware to add school libraries into statewide catalog

Jarek RutzHeadlines, Education

The Delaware Library Consortium announced Tuesday that it will spend $1 million to add school libraries into the statewide catalog. The goal is to broaden the First State’s library catalog and provide more students an opportunity to conduct research or read for pleasure. “Over the years it seems like everything around literacy has been tweaked except school libraries, until now,” …

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 …

Boost '22 is a five-district, joint effort to help every senior in the city's limits graduate high school.

Boost ‘22 collab results in 88% of city students graduating

Jarek RutzHeadlines, Education

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 …

Dozens of schools in Delaware have been identified as having lead contaminants in their water supply.

William Penn among 22 schools with elevated levels of lead in water

Jarek RutzHeadlines, Education

The bad news: Colonial School District expects to pay at least $350,000 to repair a water main suspected of bringing lead into its buildings. The good news: None of the water is reaching students or workers. As soon as Colonial was notified, school fountains were turned off, while sinks and toilets are allowed to run, because lead is not absorbed …

Delaware schools have hundreds of openings as students return for the 2022-23 year.

Delaware schools need 500 teachers. Here’s where

Jarek RutzHeadlines, Education

As the academic year gears up, Delaware schools still have more than 500 teacher vacancies to fill.  “We think about it as a perfect storm of conditions,” said Stephanie Ingram, president of the Delaware State Education Association.  Schools expected to have a higher than normal number of retirements, partly because of the stresses of dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.  This …

Eco-friendly buses

5 lucky districts may get help with new eco-friendly buses

Jarek RutzEducation, Headlines

Bruce Ashby, transportation supervisor at Capital School District, said his office didn’t ask for state help in getting three new electric buses and one propane one. But he will be delighted to get them. Electric and propane buses are said to be more environmentally friendly than gasoline-powered ones because they release less carbon dioxide as the fuel burns. Ashby said …

Students are returning to the classroom this week and next, and things are looking a lot differently than they did at the start of last year.

Schools start Tuesday, and ‘kids can be kids’ again

Jarek RutzHeadlines, Education

Caesar Rodney School District students will be the first to return to school this fall, heading back on Tuesday, Aug. 23. Others such as Colonial start next week, but the majority head back after Labor Day. For the first time since March 2020, the spectre of COVID-19 will be shoved into the coat closet and largely left there. “Kids can …

At Tuesday's webinar, key officials will discuss where the nearly $640,000,000 in ESSER funds were distributed throughout Delaware's schools.

Webinar to focus on where COVID education money went

Jarek RutzHeadlines, Delaware Live, Education

First State Educate will host a school funding webinar Tuesday to discuss where the hundreds of millions of dollars in COVID-19 education relief funds went.  The federal government allocated $122 billion amongst the states in K-12 pandemic funds, and First State Educate wants the community to know where the money is going. Delaware received a total of $637,239,246 across three …

Colonial's dropout prevention program has helped William Penn's students stay in school and earn their diploma.

Colonial’s dropout prevention program shows impressive results

Jarek RutzDelaware Live, Education, Headlines

Kelvin Addy needed a push to make it into William Penn’s 2014 graduating class. Now he’s working for one of the organizations that helped him get his diploma, helping today’s students succeed and closing a circle that began with Colonial School District’s novel dropout prevention program. Since the program’s implementation in 2012, graduation rates have spiked and dropouts have plummeted.  …

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Rosa Trotter retires after 48 years of teaching kindergarten

Jarek RutzEducation, Headlines

  After spending four decades working in a room full of frogs and children, Dr. Rosa Trotter is hopping into the next phase of her life. Thursday, she taught her last kindergarten class at Carrie Downie Elementary School in New Castle, after teaching for 48 years, with 39 of them in that room. The nearly 3,000 students she taught will …