January 24, 2017
Delaware News
Delaware Public Media
New education advocacy group says they’ll “unapologetically put kids first”
Founder and Executive Director Atnre Alleyne bills it as a grassroots education advocacy group that intends to unapologetically place kids first. “It’s when it’s about your kid – or kids first – there’s an urgency about that,” he said. “Because you know that they don’t have decades to get things right. Every day in the classroom matters.”
Delaware State News
Looking for a friend? Have a seat on the Buddy Bench
One day on the playground at Star Hill Elementary School in Dover, second grader Mackenzie Reynolds found herself alone, without a friend. Instead of having to try to work her way into a group of kids she didn’t know, there was an easier way to hoist the flag of friendship: the Buddy Bench.
Department of Education
Sponsors, meal sites sought for 2017 Summer Food Service Program
A program that targets children in low-income areas to ensure they have meals during the summer is seeking sponsors and sites for meal locations. The Summer Food Service Program, a federally funded program operated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and managed locally by the Delaware Department of Education, needs sponsors and meal sites for locations throughout Delaware to increase the number of children 18 years of age or younger who receive nutritious and healthy meals during the summer months.
Smyrna- Clayton Sun-Times
Russell wins Clayton Intermediate School Geography Bee
Samuel Russell won first place in the Clayton Intermediate School Geography Bee Jan. 13 in Clayton. The top 10 from the school competed and the top three winners from the school were awarded certificates. Finishing in second was Suzanna Cordrey. Placing third was Delaney Porter.
UDaily
Prepared to lead schools
Delaware now has a dozen new aspiring school leaders, graduates of an alternative certification program at the University of Delaware. On Jan. 18, UD’s Principal Preparation Program celebrated its first cohort in a graduation ceremony at the Paradee Center in Dover. Launched in summer 2015, PPP is an initiative of the Delaware Academy for School Leadership, a center in the College of Education and Human Development.
WDEL
New Castle charter school celebrates new name, new chapter
The Family Foundations Academy Charter School in New Castle held a ribbon cutting ceremony Monday, as it officially changed its name to the Charter School of New Castle: A Vision Academy. Senator Tom Carper and New Castle County Executive Matt Meyer spoke to students and cut the ribbon.
National News
Education Week
6 key federal policy areas to watch under Trump
President Donald Trump said less about education on the campaign trail than almost any major-party nominee in recent history, except for a high-profile proposal on single issue: school vouchers. But his ascendance to the White House could upend K-12 education in ways that are felt from the U.S. Department of Education’s headquarters in Washington to urban schools that serve big numbers of immigrant students.
Columbia Daily Tribune
Measure seeks school choice for special needs students
Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens did not explicitly mention school choice in his State of the State address, but he did call for education savings accounts for students with special needs — a measure lawmakers and school choice advocates said could open the door to broader choice measures. Choice advocates said savings accounts give parents more control over their child’s education.
Sauk Valley
New law helps schools fill in for absent teachers
If serious headway isn’t made on the substitute teacher shortage in Illinois this year, something’s wrong. New legislation kicked in Jan. 6 making it easier for the general populace and, more specifically, retired teachers and teachers with out-of-state licenses, to get sub licenses. Retired teachers whose licenses lapsed used to have to pay a $500 fine and make up all professional development they missed to reinstate their license.
The Hechinger Report
Not all towns are created equal, digitally
Inside a high-ceilinged library at Northridge High School here, seniors are typing on 16-year-old laptops donated by a local Rotary Club. Some of the computers are missing keys. Others are cracked. Many have already broken down multiple times. It is “college day,” and the students in this old farming town 60 miles north of Denver are applying to a handful of state universities and community colleges, their transcripts printed out for quick review.