December 20, 2016
Delaware News
Cape Gazette
Cape High Wellness Center expands services
Cape Henlopen school board has approved providing reproductive health services to students at Cape High’s Wellness Center beginning in the 2017-18 school year. At its Dec. 15 regular meeting, the board voted 6-1 to offer contraception, and testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases at the wellness center.
Sussex Academy takes swimming high tech
Sussex Academy celebrated its new, state-of-the-art swimming pool Dec. 15 with a nod to the force behind it. In dedicating the indoor pool to Joe Schell, Chris Schell thanked his father for everything he has done. “He has given so much to this school not only financially, but through his time and effort,” he said. “He is one of the best men I’ve ever known.”
Delaware Public Media
UD, Christina School District partner to improve literacy, behavior at Stubbs
Hoping to improve the quality of education in urban schools, University of Delaware is teaming up with Christina School District’s Stubbs Elementary to develop a system to better manage behavioral and educational challenges. UD’s Ralph Ferretti, the director of the School of Education, said over the next five years of working with Stubbs, he hopes the partnership will find new ways to offer students and teachers the support needed at the high poverty school.
Appoquinimink residents vote on referendum
Those living in the Appoquinimink School District head to the polls today to vote on a combined $70 million tax referendum. Most of the $70 million in new tax revenue would go toward building new elementary, middle and high schools, while also renovating two others within the district. The new elementary school will be built in Whitehall, while the middle and high school will join the Fairview Campus built in 2009.
Rodel Blog
10 education stories we loved in 2016
As 2016 winds to a close, the team at Rodel looked back and gathered some of our favorite and most momentous education stories of the year. What was your favorite?
Sussex County Post
Sussex Central High School going digital in entrance sign quest
It’s a sign of the times. Sussex Central High School has the green light to pursue a new digital welcoming/informational sign at the school’s main entrance, similar to the one at district cousin Indian River High School.
UDaily
Electoral College in action
Students from Delaware’s K-12 schools and their teachers will have the opportunity for a real-time civics lesson on Monday, Dec. 19, as the First State casts its 2016 votes for president in the Electoral College. Delaware electors will vote in Legislative Hall in Dover, with students attending the event in person from a dozen elementary, middle and high schools around the state.
National News
Chron
New grades for schools would give less weight to testing
Parents, students and taxpayers in Pennsylvania would get a new look at how their public schools are doing under a proposed revamp of the statewide grading system that gives less weight to standardized testing. Calling it the Future Ready PA Index, state education officials say the new grading system is meant to tell a more accurate story about Pennsylvania’s 500 school districts.
Governing
How schools can have the great principals they need
School principals matter. Any parent who has sat in on a PTA meeting will tell you that. So will researchers. The authors of the Wallace Foundation’s landmark 2004 report, “How Leadership Influences Student Learning,” found that leadership is second only to teaching among school-based influences on student learning, What makes principals so important?
The Baltimore Sun
Maryland state school board considering vouchers, charters for failing schools
The state school board is considering bold measures — offering vouchers, creating new charter programs and establishing a statewide school district — to improve consistently low-performing schools. The ideas — none of which has been formally proposed — would be radical departures from current practices.
The Hechinger Report
What should new teachers know before they set foot in a classroom?
Elly Eckhoff listened intently as a group of veteran teachers listed what they think rookie teachers need before entering the classroom: more time student teaching and more training in how to communicate with colleagues, parents and students themselves. And then she spoke. “They need to know about mental illness, poverty training and assistance,” she said.
The Huffington Post
Personalized learning: Massachusetts redefines and launches program to benefit all its districts
At the launch of MAPLE earlier this week – the Massachusetts Personalized Learning Edtech Consortium – a public/private partnership between the LearnLaunch Institute and the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to accelerate the adoption of personalized learning – noted Education guru Michael Horn said something I found revolutionary.