Labor Day weekend is right around the corner, and here's how it's being celebrated in the First State.

Labor Day weekend in Delaware: Here’s what to know

Jarek RutzCulture, Headlines

With the Labor Day weekend’s official end to summer comes slightly cooler temperatures, cheaper gas and lots of chances for fun, whether it’s homemade or public.  AAA Mid-Atlantic expects travel to return to near pre-COVID levels with families getting their last bit of vacation in before school starts. Weather for Labor Day weekend On Saturday, the temperature in Delaware beach …

Because the state ended its COVID leave mandate, Delaware teachers will now have to tap into their 10 sick days if they have COVID.

Teachers no longer granted 10-day COVID leave

Jarek RutzEducation, Headlines

For the first time since fall 2020, Delaware teachers will not be granted paid COVID-19 leave.  That means they have to use their normal sick leave if they or a family member gets sick. “The argument can be made that we’re further away from the craziness of COVID, so I get it,” said Jennifer Saunders, who’s taught in Red Clay …

Odyssey Charter's Melissa Tracy will be the first teacher in the state to lead the AP African American Studies class.

Odyssey to offer state’s first AP African American history course

Jarek RutzEducation, Headlines

Odyssey Charter will be the first school in Delaware to offer an Advanced Placement African American Studies class.  The class examines the diversity of African American experiences through authentic and varied sources. The interdisciplinary course will draw from a variety of fields like literature, the arts and humanities, political science, geography and science. The class will be taught by Melissa …

In a statewide effort to ensure school safety, six training sessions on reunification have been held in Delaware in August.

State trains districts on reuniting families after school crisis

Jarek RutzEducation, Headlines

Teachers, firemen, custodians, bus drivers and parents decked out in neon-colored vests filled the first floor hallway at Dover High School Wednesday. They were there to listen to and participate in a program focused on how to help families find each other after a school emergency. The training describes how to create a team in which each member has a …

Students are returning to the classroom this week and next, and things are looking a lot differently than they did at the start of last year.

Schools start Tuesday, and ‘kids can be kids’ again

Jarek RutzEducation, Headlines

Caesar Rodney School District students will be the first to return to school this fall, heading back on Tuesday, Aug. 23. Others such as Colonial start next week, but the majority head back after Labor Day. For the first time since March 2020, the spectre of COVID-19 will be shoved into the coat closet and largely left there. “Kids can …

Delaware has contracted a consultant to evaluate their complex and historic funding formula for school funding.

Here’s why state wants advice on school funding

Jarek RutzEducation, Headlines

The Delaware Department of Education announced last week it has hired a Virginia consultant to study the state’s public education funding system. As today’s wisecracker would say: Good luck with that. How the money trickles down to the classroom is complex, and it follows a funding system established in the 1940s. The state’s population then was 286,000, compared to today’s …

Here’s how science of reading will look in classrooms

Jarek RutzEducation, Headlines

Singing nursery rhymes, teaching letter sounds, and discussing what has been read are all ways you might see the science of reading incorporated into Delaware classrooms. Delaware’s 151st General Assembly raised awareness of using brain research to help students learn how to read when it passed a couple of bills that made using the science part of state law. Educators, …

From left, Tyasia Cannon, MayEllen Clark, Caleb Odou, Chip Rossi (president of Bank of America Delaware), Timothy Nguyen, Samhitha Vallury.

5 First State teens named ‘National Student Leaders’

Jarek RutzDelaware Live, Education, Headlines

Five Delaware junior and senior high school students have been selected as Bank of America Student Leaders. The Student Leader Program began in 2004 with the intent to help prepare students to enter the workforce through skills-building and leadership development. “The students are standout young adults who were selected for their involvement in standing up against inequality and injustice, as …

Delaware's Department of Education published the state's 2022 test scores Tuesday.

State education test scores dismal, described as ‘crisis’ 

Jarek RutzEducation, Headlines

Delaware’s 2022 test scores were released Tuesday, and they aren’t pretty.  Just 30% of Delaware students in grades three to eight met grade level math requirements, while 42% earned a proficient score in English language arts.  These scores come from the state-administered Smarter Balanced Assessment, an end-of-the-year summative test that measures the abilities of students in grades three through eight …

WilmU and Delaware's school districts are working to recruit and retain teachers in the First State.

WilmU’s grow-your-own teacher pipeline results in fast jobs

Jarek RutzDelaware Live, Education, Headlines

Angelie Ross-Jimenez is 19 years old with an associate’s degree and a full-time job, and she has Wilmington University to thank for that. The university has created a grow-your-own teacher pipeline program in order to address the teacher shortage in Delaware.  Not only did teachers leave classrooms because of COVID, the state has 4,000 educators eligible for retirement within the …