WILMINGTON – The Wilmington City Council voted unanimously Thursday night to create an Office of Educational Advocacy. Prior to an 11-0 ‘Yay’ vote – with two council members absent – many shared emotional anecdotes on why the office is essential, in line with a press conference announcing the proposal Wednesday. All speakers, in one way or another, explained how the …
Here’s how the WLC plans to spend $16 million this year
The Wilmington Learning Collaborative is making the final touches to its nearly $16 million budget for this 2024-2025 school year. After already getting the budget approved, the group voted for amendments Tuesday night in three line items: expanded learning time, professional development and school leader recruitment and retention. Funds were decreased in the first two buckets and moved to school …
WLC summer program yields reading growth in 4 schools
A coalition of city of Wilmington elementary schools can tout growth in reading over the summer. In the Wilmington Learning Collaborative’s monthly meeting Tuesday night, Executive Director Laura Burgos presented the academic progress as a result of summer programming. The group contracted Reading Assist, a group contracted by the WLC that focuses on improving literacy rates, to help tutor students. …
Pritchett Academy, 1st city school in 50 years, opens Friday
The first new school in the city of Wilmington in five decades is opening Friday. The $84 million Bancroft School in the Christina School District will have a new name honoring a longtime Wilmington educator who was the principal of Bancroft School from 1975 to 2005 – Maurice Pritchett Sr. Pritchett died in April 2023. “With the design and opening …
State moves to take Christina School District out of city
The state legislature has stepped in and created a path for the removal of the Christina School District from the city of Wilmington. House Concurrent Resolution 146, sponsored by Rep. Nnamdi Chukwuocha, D-Wilmington, supports Christina’s city students and plans for the eventual withdrawal of the district from the city’s bounds. It’s a result of the recommendation made by the Redding …
WLC launches anticipated website, new trademarked logo
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 …
WLC sets metrics of success; hires reading, trauma groups
A state agency aiming to rapidly improve education in the city of Wilmington has finally organized what measurables it will use to gauge success. The Wilmington Learning Collaborative, created in November 2022, oversees nine city elementary schools in the Brandywine, Christina and Red Clay Consolidated school districts. To reverse longstanding challenges to academic and social success, the collaborative seeks to …