November 29, 2023

2024 Educational Support Professional of the Year to be named

The Delaware Department of Education (DDOE) is honoring 20 educational support professionals for their outstanding work supporting their students and school communities.

“Educational support professionals’ roles vary greatly. They provide one-on-one support to students in the classroom. They safely transport children to and from school. They keep our buildings clean and safe. They provide nutritious meals so our children have the focus and energy to learn. They keep our offices running. They support the technological needs of classrooms. And so much more. Their work often is behind the scenes and rarely do these employees get recognized for how important they are to the success of our schools,” Secretary of Education Mark Holodick said. “Each of these employees and the many colleagues they represent across our state deserve our gratitude. I’m honored to be able to recognize these educational support professionals for their outstanding contributions.”

Now in its fourth year, the Delaware State Educational Support Professional of the Year (ESPOY) program recognizes outstanding service by school employees who provide direct or indirect services to students and their families. The Delaware Charter School Network also is invited to participate. Employees considered for the award include:

From those nominated at a building level, one educational support professional of the year moves forward to represent each district or the charter school community in the state program. Each district/charter network winner receives a $2,000 personal award from the winner’s district or charter school. The state program then chooses one person annually to serve as Delaware’s Educational Support Professional of the Year. The state winner receives an additional $3,000 personal award from DDOE as well as $5,000 to be used for the educational benefit of his or her students.

The 2024 state winner will take over the title from 2023 Delaware Educational Support Professional of the Year Heather Hitchens, a paraprofessional at Lake Forest Central Elementary School in the Lake Forest School District.

A selection committee made up of DDOE and non-DDOE judges is reviewing the local winners’ state applications, and the state honoree will be announced at Delaware’s statewide ESPOY celebration the evening of Tuesday, Dec. 5 in Dover. The event will be live-streamed to DDOE’s YouTube and Facebook accounts following the dinner portion of the evening; likely this will begin shortly after 7 p.m.

DDOE is excited to recognize these outstanding professionals whose work is vital to students’ success.

Delaware schools recognized for student success

Principals Cynthia McNatt (above) and Laura Schneider (below) lead this year's National ESEA Distinguished Schools awardees. 

Smyrna Elementary School and West Seaford Elementary School are among a host of U.S. schools that have been named a 2023 National ESEA Distinguished Schools for the extraordinary success of their students. The National Association of ESEA State Program Administrators (NAESPA), formerly the National Title I Association, has been selecting examples of superior, federally funded school programs for national recognition through the National ESEA Distinguished Schools program (formerly the National Title I Distinguished Schools program) since 1996.

Smyrna Elementary School, in the Smyrna School District, is being recognized as a National ESEA Distinguished School for Closing the Achievement Gap between student groups, and the academic progress that the students made during the 2022-2023 school year on standardized achievement tests.  Cynthia McNatt is the school’s principal.

West Seaford Elementary School, in the Seaford School District, is being recognized as a National ESEA Distinguished School for Excellence in Serving Special Populations, and the growth and progress towards English Language proficiency that the multilingual learners made during the 2022-2023 school year.  Laura Schneider is the school’s principal.

The 2023 National ESEA Distinguished Schools will be honored February 7-10, 2024, at the 2024 National ESEA Conference in Portland, Oregon.  More information about all National ESEA Distinguished Schools is available on the NAESPA website: eseanetwork.org/awards.

Sixteen Additional Schools Recognized Locally as DE Recognition Schools

Delaware Secretary of Education Mark Holodick is pleased to commend and recognize 16 additional schools from across the state for their growth and progress in three categories.  Awards are given for Exceptional Student Performance and Growth on the state’s assessment for grades 3-8, Academic Growth and Closing the Achievement Gap between student groups on the grade 3-8 assessment, or Excellence in Serving Special Populations where multilingual learners showed exceptional growth toward meeting proficiency on ACCESS tests.

Thirteen schools that are named 2023 Recognition Schools will receive an $8,000 award, a certificate, and a banner to hang in their building.  Three schools are being recognized as Schools of Continued Excellence and will also receive a certificate and a banner. These schools also were recognized last year for their outstanding performance and are not eligible for the financial award in this consecutive year.

SPEACS supports students with complex communication needs

In Brandywine School District's Maple Lane Elementary School, educators are using the Systematic Process for Enhancing and Assessing Communication Supports (SPEACS) program to ensure all students have an opportunity to participate in shared reading, including those with the most-complex communication needs.

Through SPEACS, Maple Lane teachers are embedding research-based strategies into their English language arts (ELA) instruction. These strategies have increased overall student participation in reading.

"One of the highlights has been incorporating core vocabulary to teach academic vocabulary across the curriculum," said Maple Lane educator Marcie Gray. "All students were able to create a definition of Native Americans using core vocabulary cards. This created a great inclusive lesson for all learners."

SPEACS is a collaboration between DDOE and the University of Delaware. The program works with educators throughout the state to create communication-rich classrooms. Through professional learning and coaching on literacy and communication strategies, school-based teams are provided resources to increase student engagement across the school day. Support is then tailored to individual educators through the use of observations, modeling, online learning, experiences, book studies, lesson studies and technical assistance.  

SPEACS provides ongoing support as well so teachers can continue increasing student participation in the classroom throughout the school year.  

"SPEACS has really helped us as teachers learn effective ways to support our students," Gray said. "The collaboration and planning sessions have taught us so much in a short amount of time."

The SPEACS program for complex communicators is available to all Delaware districts and charter schools. For additional information, contact the ACCESS project office at (302) 831-1052 or email deaccessproject@udel.edu.

Students with disabilities gain real-world skills in community store

A new vocational training opportunity is now available in Kenty County, providing inclusive, work-based experiences for students with diverse abilities outside the traditional school environment.

The Rider Country Store (RCS) opened last month on 1 Railroad Avenue in Wyoming, DE. Located in a former train station, the store sits in the middle of the community – across the street from Brown's Tavern and just yards from the popular Tres Sorelle Dolce Ice Cream & Italian Ice.

Charlton students work the store, gaining real-world experience in a public, retail atmosphere. The students also create items for the store to sell, such as greeting cards and lanyards. RCS features Caesar Rodney Rider gear as well. 

RCS is a collaboration between the John S. Charlton School, Caesar Rodney Countywide Programs, Roads 2 Success and Caesar Rodney High School.

The store is open on school days from 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. The store is closed when school is not in session. Follow the Rider Country Store on Facebook to keep up with new merchandise and special events.

Students, families encouraged to search for scholarships

With January scholarship deadlines fast approaching, Delaware students and their families are encouraged to search now for programs that will help offset the cost of their post-high school education plans.

Available online, the 2023-24 Delaware Scholarship Compendium provides a free, mobile way for students to find scholarships by category and deadline. The database includes more than 250 local and national scholarships – not just for four-year degrees, but for vocational/trade, two-year, graduate, and certificate programs as well.

DDOE believes all students need some sort of post-high school education to help launch a successful future. Any student seeking additional education is encouraged to visit the Compendium. Students and families can search scholarships by eligibility requirements such as county of residency, ethnicity or race, and profession – about 15 categories in all – as well as alphabetically or by due date. Users then can drill down for more details, including application information.

As in previous years, school counselors are encouraging students to visit the Compendium as well. The online resource is also highlighted during student and family sessions focused on post-secondary college and career planning.

The 2023-2024 Delaware Scholarship Compendium is available online at https://scholarships.delawarestudentsuccess.org/. To better meet the needs of all families, the Compendium is also available in Spanish and Haitian Creole.

Delaware Department of Education I education.delaware.gov