LaVante’ Dorsey spends many of her free days at Battery Park in New Castle, where she sets up a chair and a little table with a sign that says “Need to talk it out? Have a seat.” It’s the latest example of her dedication to civil and social service, coming on the heels of her winning the 2024 Minority Small …
First State Educate embraces broader Del. schools mission
During the first three years that nonprofit First State Educate has been at work in Delaware, it focused on finding school board candidates and supporting them in campaigns as a means to improve state education. While it remains the only state nonprofit to focus on building the capacity of school boards, the agency has begun to branch out. Now it: …
Meet Shelby Borst: William Penn social studies teacher and the 2025 Delaware Teacher of the Year
The reward for teaching for Shelby Borst comes from the looks on students’ faces when they learn something new. Borst, a social studies teacher at William Penn High School in the Colonial School District, got her own reward Tuesday night when she was named Delaware’s 2025 State Teacher of the Year. She’s also a teacher who has spent time boosting …
School funding group talks inequities, boards, reassessment
Delaware must decide to remodel its current house or build a completely new house. That’s the analogy used to describe needed changes to how the state funds its public schools by Michael Griffith, senior researcher and policy analyst at the Learning Policy Institute. He repeatedly used this mantra Thursday during the first formal meeting of the Public Education Funding Commission, …
Coalition outlines 7 goals that should guide school funding
The state’s education funding should have seven goals, a coalition of education leaders in Delaware said Thursday night during a virtual community meeting focused on student-centered funding. It was one of several webinars hosted by Vision Coalition, a public-private partnership of Delawareans working to improve public education. It includes education, community and legislative leaders. The coalition’s leadership developed the Vision …
Cradles to Crayons host largest backpack drive in state
Tunes from AC/DC, Lady Gaga and other hits rang through Wilmington’s Chase Center on the Riverfront Friday morning as 230 volunteers stuffed backpacks with essential school supplies for children in need. “This is the season for backpacks for kids,” said Michal Smith, executive director of Cradles to Crayons, a group that works to fight childhood clothing insecurity directly in Chicagoland, …
Redding plan could remove Christina, Colonial schools from Wilmington
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 …