August 29, 2017

Delaware News

Cape Gazette
Elementaries hold open houses
Parents and students will have a chance to see the new Love Creek Elementary up close when it holds an open house Wednesday, Aug. 30. Doors open at 6 p.m. for all students to see their new classrooms and meet their new teachers. Love Creek is Cape Helene’s newest school, opening for the 2017-18 school year.

Native Spanish speakers sought for Cape’s immersion program
Cape Henlopen is looking for a few more native Spanish-speaking students for its Spanish immersion program starting this year. “We have plenty of English speakers signed up, we’re opened up for more Spanish speakers,” said Donna Kolakowski, supervisor for elementary education for Cape Henlopen School District.

Delaware 105.9
New school year, new programs excite Delaware’s Education Secretary
Most Delaware schools start classes for the new year this week, and the state’s Secretary of Education is also beginning her first complete school year in that role. Susan Bunting was nominated by Governor John Carney to head the Department of Education last January. Before that, she was Superintendent of the Indian River School District in Sussex County.

Delaware Public Media
New Education Dept. arm to focus on low-performing Wilmington schools
As a new school year begins, Delaware’s Department of Education has a new arm dedicated to high-needs Wilmington schools. It’s called the Department of Innovation and Improvement, and former Brandywine School District assistant superintendent Dorrell Green is leading it. Gov. John Carney appointed Green to head the new department last month.

Delaware State News
William Henry High alumni reunions keep school memories alive
Reunions are often just seen as a chance to reacquaint with old friends and classmates. However, for the alumni of the William W. M. Henry Comprehensive High School, reunions are a chance to preserve some of the school’s pre-desegregation history. That history will be celebrated at the William Henry High School Reunion from Friday through Sunday and will include dinners, entertainment, dancing and remembering old classmates from a school that began operation in Kent County in 1952 for three types of “colored” students — Negroes, Nanticoke Indians and Moors.

Rodel Blog
What makes a “ready” kindergartener?
Blog post by Lori Nichols and Michelle Wilson, members of the Rodel Teacher Council
In Delaware all kindergarten teachers—including ourselves—will complete an observational assessment called the Delaware Early Learning Survey (DE-ELS) during the first 30 days of school. We are observing various objectives under six domains of developmental growth: physical, social-emotional, language, cognitive, literacy, and mathematics. You can read more about these domains here.

10 questions with Michelle Shaivitz of DEAEYC
Blog post by Matt Amis, senior communications officer at the Rodel Foundation of Delaware
With momentum continuing to build in Delaware, there’s never been a better time to get involved in early childhood education. We talked with Michelle Shaivitz, executive director of the Delaware Association for the Education of Young Children to learn more about advocacy, supporting the workforce, and where our state should focus next.

Sussex County Post
$10,000: Mountaire continues support for IRSD’s Project V.I.L.L.A.G.E
It takes a whole village to raise a child, according to an old proverb. In the Indian River School District, toddlers with high needs are served through Project V.I.L.L.A.G.E. – a long-standing initiative that has had ongoing support from Mountaire Farms. The poultry company’s continuing support hit five digits Monday night as Mountaire representatives Roger Marino and Sean McKeon presented a $10,000 check at the IRSD board of education meeting.

Techincal.ly Delaware
SummerCollab brings boat building (and more) to Sussex County students
Since its official launch as a standalone organization in 2015, SummerCollab has made waves with its innovative summer learning programs for low-income, underserved Delaware students. And the group has already started receiving national honors. SummerCollab was selected as the winner of the National Summer Learning Association’s 2017 Founder’s Award.

The Milford Beacon
Students work as interns for U.S. Senator in Wilmington, Dover
Through direct contact with constituents, research on actual bill proposals, and writing memorandums to Senator Chris Coons himself, these interns are doing work that matters — and affecting the lives of Delawareans every day. Intern: a title that seems nearly synonymous with “coffee runner” in most offices. Interns are often seen as the bottom of the food chain, with very little input into daily operations.

The News Journal
Sallie Mae looking for $25,000 scholarship applicants
Sallie Mae has announced it will award five $25,000 college scholarships to deserving high school students as part of the second annual Bridging the Dream Scholarship Program. Now through Sept. 7, school counselors and community organization leaders can nominate high school juniors and seniors who exemplify excellence inside or outside the classroom.

Nerves, pirates (what?) highlight first day of school in Delaware
Ten-year-old Harold Hall Jr. stood in front of Pleasantville Elementary School and looked around anxiously, one hand slightly outstretched toward his mother. She sat in the front passenger seat of their car with the door open, rubbing his earlobe. His father’s voice boomed from the driver’s seat, “Are you nervous?” Then dad got out and came around to his son.

National News

Chicago Sun-Times
‘Compromise’ school bill dramatically moves big step closer to reality
It took several hours, three roll-call votes and no shortage of drama, but the Illinois House on Monday passed a “compromise” school funding bill — setting the stage for state government to overhaul the way it bankrolls public education. The measure, which initially failed, cleared the chamber 73-34.

Education Week
New federal rule could force states to lower graduation rates
A little-noticed change in the country’s main federal education law could force many states to lower their high school graduation rates, a politically explosive move no state would relish. Indiana is the first state to be caught in the crosshairs of the law’s new language, but other states are likely to be affected soon.

Iowa City Press-Citizen
Iowa City School Board candidates tackle special education noncompliance
Candidates in the Iowa City Community School Board race Monday spoke on ways they would seek to make meaningful improvements to special education programming. The seven hopefuls in the Sept. 12 school election took questions at a forum focused on special education issues, organized by several mental and behavioral health organizations in the local community.

NPR
How to counter back-to-school anxiety
The start of the school year can be rough on some kids. It’s a big shift from summer’s freedom and lack of structure to the measured routines of school. And sometimes that can build up into tears, losing sleep, outbursts, and other classic signs of anxiety. “Going back to school is a transition for everyone,” says Lynn Bufka, a practicing psychologist who also works at the American Psychological Association.

U.S. News & World Report
Houston schools chief: Many students will lose everything
Public school students in Houston won’t be starting school until at least Sept. 5, as the powerful storm dubbed Harvey continues to swirl overhead, dropping epic amounts of rain that’s caused severe flooding and has submerged large swaths of the sprawling city. “Thank goodness it seems like we’re pulling through, but the flooding is not over yet,” says Richard Carranza, superintendent of the Houston Independent School District.