Red Clay and Colonial school districts were the biggest funding beneficiaries of this year's certificate of necessity approvals.

Colonial, Red Clay biggest winners in state funding requests

Jarek RutzHeadlines, Education

The state Department of Education has made some school districts very happy by deeming their requests for state funding necessary to fulfill building projects. For fiscal year 2025, the Department of Education approved 50 certificate of necessity requests, 44 of which involved state funding. They were concentrated in six districts. Districts submit certificates of necessity each year to the department, …

Parents have shared some positives and some preferred changes, as well as what they look for as they navigate through the process of school choice.

Here’s what parents dealing with school choice say it’s like

Jarek RutzHeadlines, Education

As Mia McIntyre navigates her first rodeo of school choice for her daughter, she’s found it fairly easy, but with some surprisingly stressful points in Delaware’s process. Xavia Davis finds the process burdensome and said she was treated rudely by district employees who seemed entitled to know why she wanted to choice her children away from the district. Nicole Kowal, …

This is the first time the Department of Education has approved a certificate of necessity for Red Clay in more than a decade.

Red Clay sets 2024 referendum to match state capital funds

Jarek RutzHeadlines, Education

For the first time in more than a decade, the state has approved a certificate of necessity request by the Red Clay Consolidated School District, opening the door for $289 million in funding for capital projects. The projects will affect 29 schools in Red Clay, one of the largest districts in the state.  Red Clay will now hold a referendum …

In addition to the online move, the SATs are getting shorter.

SATs to move exclusively online in 2024 with adaptive format

Jarek RutzHeadlines, Education

The SATs – a standardized test widely used for college admissions and mandated in Delaware – will be taken exclusively online for First State students starting in 2024. “The College Board is moving to a full digital adaptive test,” said Theresa Bennett, director of the Office of Assessment at the Delaware Department of Education.  Adaptive tests vary the difficulty level …

The school choice window in Delaware is Nov. 6 to Jan. 10, 2024.

Want to choice your kids into a school? Process opens Nov. 6

Jarek RutzHeadlines, Education

Applications for school choice in Delaware will open to parents in less than two weeks, and districts and charters are trying to make sure families have an easy time navigating through the process. Red Clay Consolidated School District hosted a virtual school choice information session Tuesday night to share the timeline of the school choice window, tips to remember and …

The Wilmington Learning Collaborative is made up of nine city elementary schools across three districts.

How the WLC plans to spend $16.6M to improve city schools

Jarek RutzHeadlines, Education

The Wilmington Learning Collaborative’s governing council voted Tuesday night for a budget containing various programs intended to improve outcomes for city students.  The budget is for this fiscal year, which concludes June 30, 2024. It totals $16,632,690.20, with $10 million set in the state budget for this year, and the other $6,632,690.20 is carryover funds from last year.  Executive Director …

Counselor Red Clay Consolidated School District Kristen

Red Clay’s Kristin Nye finalist for national counselor of year

Jarek RutzEducation, Headlines

A Delaware counselor has been chosen as one of five finalists from around the country for an award honoring the best school counselor in America. Kristin Nye from Anna P. Mote Elementary School in the Red Clay Consolidated School District will represent the First State for the American School Counselor Association School Counselor of the Year Award. “To get this …

Delaware had three schools recognized as national 2023 Blue Ribbon Schools.

3 Delaware schools earn national award for excellence

Jarek RutzHeadlines, Education

Three schools in Delaware were among the 353 across America that have been honored as National Blue Ribbon Schools for 2023. Appoquinimink School District’s Olive B. Loss Elementary School in Bear, Christina School District’s Thurgood Marshall Elementary School in Newark and Indian River School District’s Lord Baltimore Elementary School in Ocean View are the three awarded by U.S. Secretary of …

The collaborative will use the 2023-2024 school year as a planning year.

Learning Collaborative establishes timeline of planning year

Jarek RutzHeadlines, Education

The Wilmington Learning Collaborative seems to have more focus and direction, with a timeline and five-phase approach to its 2023-2024 planning year unveiled this week. The collaborative’s Tuesday night meeting was the first led by its newly hired executive director, Laura Burgos. RELATED: WLC gets another planning year after Brandywine vote The collaborative is a state agency created in November …

Photo courtesy of United Way of Delaware.

1st Latinos student summit to celebrate culture, voice

Jarek RutzHeadlines, Education

An upcoming Latinos Unidos Student Summit is designed to bring those students together to empower them and to celebrate their culture and student voice. The Saturday, Sept. 16 event, sponsored by the United Way of Delaware, will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Hodgson Vo-Tech High School in Newark. The summit is meant to prepare, train, re-fuel …