Delaware school boards operate under many rules, including having public meetings that have been advertised in advance to comply with state Freedom of Information requirements. That was one of the details that came up during a First State Educate webinar Monday night focused on how school board agendas work, the legal requirements of boards, the importance of communication and more. …
The Wilmington Learning Collaborative has a new look. “Much like when you meet a stranger for the first time, you don’t have associations with their face, and as you start experiencing that person, you gain those associations over time, so the WLC has just launched its new face,” said John Himics, president of First Ascent Design. The collaborative’s governing board …
Nothing has come easy to the Wilmington Learning Collaborative, not its formation, not its hiring of an executive director and certainly not the release of its first report on city schools. That angered teachers and brought dozens of them to a Collaborative meeting to speak. Laura Burgos, executive director, says she learned a big lesson there and will do things …
Some students residing in the city of Wilmington who attend Christina and Colonial school district schools would be transferred mostly to Red Clay and a few to Brandywine, if a redistricting plan championed by the Redding Consortium comes to fruition. The move would essentially remove Christina and Colonial from the city. “We believe this is a big first step,” said …
The head of Delaware’s Department of Education has named his 93 scholars for 2024. Secretary of Education Mark Holodick selected the students based on their continued academic achievement and involvement in the community. “This represents one of the highest academic achievements a student can earn in a Delaware public school,” Holodick said at a dinner in Dover honoring the students …
A newly-funded career pathway partnership between a state college and a high school aims to tackle the national nursing shortage while giving students college credits to advance into a career in health care. Delaware Technical Community College and William Penn High School in the Colonial School District announced Monday the launch of the Patient Care Technician/Nursing Pathway Program. The partnership …
Two First State high schoolers are on their way to the Mountaineer State to represent Delaware at the 61st National Youth Science Camp. Kate Li, a senior at Newark Charter School, and Arya Gupta, a junior at Red Clay Consolidated School District’s Charter School of Wilmington, will attend the camp from June 29 to July 20 in Monongahela National Forest …
Now that Colonial, Red Clay and Brandywine have had successful referendums, residents of those school districts may be wondering when they’ll have to pony up finances and when they’ll see new facilities. Delaware school districts that have had a successful referendum typically phase their spending over three years or more. The concept of the referendum isn’t widespread nationally. Delaware is …
A buy-one-get-two deal is a bargain at a grocery store, but not so ideal for teachers looking to exchange days off. A new law could even the scales. Senate Bill 20, sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Bryan Townsend, D-Newark, removes the requirement that a public school district employee who donates leave to another employee must donate two days of leave …
The Wilmington Learning Collaborative says it needs three extra months to set performance requirements for the schools it’s overseeing. That means the organization will have to go back to the Brandywine, Christina and Red Clay districts for permission to move the deadline from March 31 to June 30. The performance requirements include setting goals through written agreements with the three …
Partnership was the word of the night in the Wilmington Learning Collaborative’s January meeting Tuesday night. Dorrell Green, superintendent of Red Clay Consolidated School District and a member of the governing council for the group, said they need to make sure they spend the millions of state funding wisely while strengthening community partnerships with groups that provide help, such as …
Five of Delaware’s 19 school districts are asking their residents to head to the polls in 2024 and vote for a local tax increase. In the First State, districts must hold referendums if they want to increase their local school tax in order to increase local revenue. They include the Brandywine, Red Clay Consolidated, Colonial, Smyrna and Appoquinimink. Schools get …
