DOVER, Del., – Today, May 19th, Lt. Governor Matt Denn will welcome winners of the 6th Annual Lt. Governor’s Art Contest to Legislative Hall in Dover.

This year, the contest received hundreds of amazing entries from students all over Delaware. Each entry was truly unique and showed particular character. Art came from schools all over Delaware and was done by artists from Pre-K through 12th grade. Thirty pieces were chosen in 12 categories (1st, 2nd, 3rd places & honorable mention in elementary, middle and high school categories).

This year’s theme was “Family Fun in Delaware.” Participants created a piece of art that highlighted what family fun in Delaware means to them. Winners will have their artwork displayed in the Lt. Governor’s Dover and Wilmington offices for the entire year following the contest.

The winners and their families will attend an art reception in Legislative Hall, where their artwork has been beautifully displayed by the Department of State’s Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs. The Lt. Governor will make remarks, hand out awards, and take pictures with the artists and their families. This year’s winning artwork comes from 7 schools (sorted by district):

Appoquinimink School District:
• Middletown High School
• MOT Charter School

Capital School District:
• Central Middle School

Milford School District:
• Milford High School

Caesar Rodney School District:
• Major George Welch Elementary School

Indian River School District:
• Millsboro Middle School

Red Clay School District:
•Cab Calloway School of the Arts

Art Contest Reception
Monday, May 19, 2014
6:00pm
Legislative Hall
411 Legislative Avenue
Dover, DE 19901
*Doors open at 5:15pm; remarks by Lt. Governor at 6:00pm.

DOVER, Del. – Today, Lieutenant Governor Matt Denn announced the two schools honored with the 5th annual “Lt. Governor’s Excellence in Parental Involvement Award” during a press conference in Kent County.

The 2014 winners of the award are Postlethwait Middle and Dover High School. The two winners were picked by a committee of parents, teachers, administrators, and representatives from the business community.

“I created the award in 2010 with the State Chamber of Commerce as a way to enhance parental engagement in our schools,” said Lt. Governor Denn. “Each year, I am encouraged by the ideas that schools continue to create to help get parents more involved. As a parent, it is hard to always know everything that is happening at school, but it is our responsibility to take more active roles in supporting our children and their schools. When we do, everyone succeeds, and I applaud Postlethwait and Dover HS for creating these programs to get more parents in the doors.”

Postlethwait Middle School is doing a variety of things to get parents more involved. Throughout the year, Postlethwait hosts a variety of themed parent nights during which parents and students participate in various content-based activities. Postlethwait hosted a Fifer Fall Fest for the 2013-14 school year had over 800 participants representing 205 Postlethwait families (25% of their total student population).

“Postlethwait Middle School is very honored and proud to have been selected for this prestigious award,” said Principal Derek Prillaman. “This recognition is a true reflection of our entire learning community – many committed groups and individuals worked together to provide special programs and opportunities for our students and families throughout the school year and during the summer months. We’re committed to continuing these efforts and expanding upon our positive relationships with our parents, students and the Postlethwait community.”

Dover High School began the Parent Academy in 2012, which hosts workshops and events offered based on parent feedback. Now district-wide, more than 50 parent workshops and events have been offered district wide since August 2012. Dover High also has PACEParent and Community Engagement Center, the mission of which is to mobilize parents, schools and communities in the Capital School District towards positive change relating to parent involvement, school improvement and community engagement. From January 2013 through today, the parent center has provided services to more than 700 families.

Dover High School Principal Evelyn Edny said, “There is nothing more powerful than families being involved in the education of a student! In high school, parental involvement takes on many forms: It’s a single mom being able to provide a quiet place to study while also providing food and shelter; it’s the grandparent who can make it to a game or awards ceremony; it’s the parent who knows the first and last names of their teen’s friends; it’s the parent who works hand-and- hand communicating and partnering with the school to produce good citizens.”

On Wednesday, April 30, 2014 at 1:00 p.m., Lieutenant Governor Matt Denn will announce this year’s winners of his 5th annual “Excellence in Parental Involvement Award.” He will be joined by staff, parents, students and teachers from both winning schools. The announcement will be held at Postlethwait  Middle School, located at 2841 S. State St., Camden-Wyoming, DE 19934.

The Excellence in Parental Involvement award was created by Lt. Governor Denn as a way to honor schools and parents that have successfully expanded parental involvement through innovative programs. Media will learn more about these programs and their implementation at Wednesday’s press conference.

Wednesday, April 30, 2014 at 1:00 p.m.
Postlethwait Middle School
2841 S. State St.
Camden-Wyoming, DE 19934

DOVER, Del. – On Wednesday, April 2, Lt. Governor Denn will celebrate wonderful achievements at Rehoboth and Milton Elementary Schools. Cape Henlopen School District received $57,623.20 through the Accelerated Academic Education Grants that were given late last year, and the Lt. Governor will visit two of the schools that are already using the funding on programs.
The Accelerated Academic Grant program, a new state program that made funds available for programs targeted at academically advanced students, was created through legislation proposed by Lieutenant Governor Matt Denn and the chairs of the General Assembly’s education committees, allowing school districts to design programs targeted at students who are ahead of grade level in reading, writing, math, or science.

Cape Henlopen School District is implementing a progressive, rigorous approach in accelerated education through STEAM enriched instruction. The program will include 60 identified 5th grade students from four elementary schools and will inspire creativity, innovation and integrative problem solving above and beyond the curriculum. The Lt. Governor, in visiting Rehoboth and Milton Elementary Schools, will see those children and programs in action. Shields and H.O. Brittingham will also fully participate beginning this fall.

At Rehoboth Elementary, the Lt. Governor will actually start his visit celebrating with Principal Trish Mumford, staff, students, and parents that RES is a School of Continued Excellence, as recognized by the Lt. Governor and Sec. Murphy in October 2013. Lt. Governor Denn will hand out awards to staff and students, celebrating their continued success. Additionally, Rehoboth has invited all of the fourth and fifth grade students whose scores and progress as third and fourth graders earned RES the designation. The staff will each receive a small etched crystal award with “Rehoboth Elementary, DOE School of Continued Excellence 2013.” The students will each get a metal for “Academic Excellence.”

After the award ceremony, Lt. Governor Denn will visit the fifth grade STEAM groups at Rehoboth and then again at Milton Elementary School to see them in action. They use time set aside for Response to Intervention (RTI) so that they do not miss any of the core curricular instruction. At RES, the Lt. Governor will see the students discussing and creating hypothesis around pollution, paper recycling, and water filtration.

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

10:30am – 12:00pm Visit to Rehoboth Elementary School
500 Stockley Street
Rehoboth Beach
Award Ceremony 10:30 – 11:15
STEAM Visit 11:15 – 12:00

1:00pm – 2:00pm Visit to Milton Elementary School
512 Federal Street
Milton

Pilot Program Dramatically Reduced Late Hiring of Teachers and Improved Schools’ Ability to Compete With Surrounding States for Quality New Teachers

DOVER, DE– This afternoon, Governor Jack A. Markell signed H.B. 259 into law, which passed both the House and the Senate unanimously this week.

House Bill 259 makes permanent the pilot program originally created in 2011, which required the state’s Department of Education to estimate each school district’s enrollment for the following school year in May, and guarantee state funds to each district sufficient to cover 98% of the state’s share of hiring the teachers justified by that enrollment estimate.

The pilot program, created through legislation implementing the recommendations of a task force chaired by Lieutenant Governor Matt Denn and State Senator David Sokola, demonstrated extraordinary success in allowing Delaware school districts to better compete with surrounding states for new teachers and adequately train those new teachers before the start of the school year. Before this legislation, school districts were losing teaching candidates to other states that were making firm offers earlier in the year because districts couldn’t risk getting less state money than they expected and the state didn’t guarantee any funds until September 30th, when final student counts were done.

Under the pilot program, the state started estimating districts’ student population in May and guaranteeing the districts 98% of the state funds for the upcoming school year that would be generated by that estimated number of students. The change was dramatic – a 44% increase in the proportion of teachers hired before August.

“This bill improves our public schools,” said Lt. Governor Denn. “We are always trying to hire the best and brightest to teach our children and now we will hopefully be able to do more of that in a timely fashion. This is a win for students and teachers alike.”

Governor Markell said, “I’d like to thank Lt. Governor Denn, Senator Sokola, and Representative Scott for their work on getting this important piece of legislation passed. This will allow us to offer attractive jobs to new teachers on par with our surrounding states and supports our ongoing effort to recruit and retain talented educators.”

The University of Delaware’s Institute for Public Administration, in its ninth annual Delaware Teacher and Administrator Supply and Demand Survey Analysis Report, quantified the change in early teacher hiring caused by the pilot program: the percentage of school district teachers who were hired after July 31st dropped from 64.3% in the 2010-2011 school year, to 48.6% in 2011-2012 and 46.5% in 2012-2013 (Delaware Teacher and Administrator Supply and Demand Survey Analysis Report, June 2013, at p. 12). The report can be found online at http://www.ipa.udel.edu/publications/teacher_supply13.pdf

This significant drop in the percentage of late-hired teachers was directly attributed by the University of Delaware to the pilot early teacher hiring program:

What has led to the reduction in later teacher hiring in Delaware? The most obvious answer is Senate Bill 164 with House Amendment 1, the extension of SB 16. SB 16 requires that projections of enrollment be made by April 15 and that the State will guarantee that school districts receive funds equivalent to 98 percent of these projections. This bill was aimed at decreasing late teacher hiring, and it appears to have had the desired effect. (Delaware Teacher and Administrator Supply and Demand Survey Analysis Report at p. 50).

State Representative Darryl Scott, prime sponsor of House Bill 259 and one of the original sponsors of the 2011 pilot program, said, “We want to hire the very best teachers and make sure they’re ready to start strong on the first day of school. We’ve seen conclusive evidence that tells us early unit counts are helping our districts achieve that goal, and I am glad we have now made that policy permanent.”

Senator Sokola, the Senate sponsor of House Bill 259 and the original sponsor Senate Bill 16, added, “In my work, I understand the importance of testing and validating data. I’m pleased that the data have validated this experiment in giving our schools more flexibility in hiring top-quality teachers and that it is permanent.”

Other original sponsors of Senate Bill 16 who co-sponsored the legislation making it permanent are Representative Debra Heffernan and Representative Earl Jaques.