WILMINGTON, Del. – On Wednesday, September 10th, Lt. Governor Matt Denn will be in Dover.

He will visit join the staff of BayHealth and others to help them launch a collaborative partnership with Project SEARCH, an international school-to-work program that prepares people with disabilities for full-time employment. Bayhealth’s partners in Project SEARCH are the Capital School District, Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, Community of Integrated Services, POW&R (Autism Delaware), and the Department of Education.

Project SEARCH was developed in 1996 for young adults, 18 years of age and eligible for the last year of public education, who have significant cognitive disabilities and would benefit from a workforce development program. The Project SEARCH High School Transition Program is a unique, business-led, one year school-to-work program that takes place entirely at the workplace. Total workplace immersion facilitates a seamless combination of classroom instruction, career exploration, and hands-on training through worksite rotations. Students in the Project SEARCH program at BayHealth will attend classes focused on teaching employability skills and rotate through 17 departments at the hospital. The interns have completed their first two weeks of school and have been very busy orienting themselves around the BayHealth campus.

The Lt. Governor will then visit William Henry Middle School in the Capital School District to see the work they are doing with funding they received through the Accelerated Academic Grant program, the new state program that made funds available for programs targeted at academically advanced students. Local school districts and schools applied for start-up grants for programs targeted at students who are at least a half year ahead of grade level based upon current state standards.

The $16,740 they received in funding will permit William Henry Middle School to implement Making Math Matter to identify 5th and 6th grade students from underrepresented groups with the potential for success in advanced math classes and prepare them to qualify for and pass Algebra I in 7th grade.

The program, created through legislation proposed last year by Lieutenant Governor Matt Denn and the chairs of the General Assembly’s education committees, allows school districts to design programs targeted at students who are ahead of grade level in reading, writing, math, science, arts and humanities. $300,000 was allocated to 10 schools/districts for the 2013-14/2014-15 school years.

The program was funded again this year and applications for State Regulation 917 – Accelerated Academic Programs – were shared with schools and are due to the Department of Education by October 1, 2014. Total funding to be allocated for all selected programs is $300,000.00 and is for the 2014-15/2015-16 school years.

This regulation, like last year, directs the Delaware Department of Education (DDOE) to seek applications from Delaware school districts, and charter schools that are willing to plan and implement new programs to offer specialized educational services to students who are capable of performing accelerated academic work, or renewing existing programs of the same description whose funding sources are expiring. The Delaware schools selected will be those that can demonstrate through the application process their readiness to implement innovative programs for specifically identified highly able learners. The Delaware Department of Education anticipates selecting elementary, middle and high schools from all counties in the state. These schools will develop programs as exemplary models of gifted education and will be expected to share their challenges and successes with other schools in the state.

Finally, he joins Delaware State EMS Association for their Annual Awards Banquet and Installation of Officers. He will make general remarks before the installation of officers.

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

9:00am – 9:45am Project SEARCH Kickoff
Bayhealth Kent General
640 S. State Street
Pavilion Conference Center; 2nd floor Main Lobby
Dover

11:00am – 12:00pm Accelerated Academic Funding School Visit
William Henry Middle School
65 Carver Road
Dover

5:30pm – 7:30pm Delaware State EMS Association Annual Awards Banquet
Dover Downs
Dover

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