Demographics
The Red Clay Consolidated School District is located in Northern New Castle County, Delaware with a combination of urban and suburban settings. Some of its elementary schools are located in the heart of the largest city in the state. The district comprises 28 schools with approximately 1000 teachers. It services over 16,000 students. Of those students, 27% are African American, 4% are Asian, 20% are Hispanic, and 49% are White. Students' needs vary, with almost 15% receiving Special Education Services and 10% receiving English Language support. In addition, 41% of the students come from families with low incomes.
Highlands Elementary is an urban school in the city of Wilmington, Delaware. We are a small K-5 school with an enrollment of about 300 students. Eighty-six percent of our student’s make-up belong to ethnic minority populations, while 92% of the students fall into the classification of low socio-economic status. I am a third grade teacher with a class size varying between 20-26 students who are representative of the make-up of the school. Recently I have been designated as an inclusion teacher. I collaborate with Special Education teachers who come in to assist during the English/Language Arts block and during Mathematics instructions. I am the primary teacher responsible for instruction of all, general education and special education, students for all other subjects. Highlands recently has been designated as a Priority School by the Delaware State Department of Education. This designation is the result of lower than average standardized assessment scores. In the last year, we have undergone administration changes and about a 50% turnover in the teaching staff. We will be given specific proficiency targets developed by DEDOE and must meet those targets by the end of the 2017-2018 school year.
Comments: