Introduction
William Penn High School, the school at which I teach, is the largest high school in the state of Delaware and is comprised of a very diverse student population that comes to us from a range of backgrounds. Since ours is the only high school in the Colonial School District, our 2300 students come from a range of areas in the eastern portion of the county; our students that live in the southernmost portion of our district’s boundaries live in area that is generally more rural and affluent, while those that live in the northern section of the district mostly come from poorer neighborhoods that are in the city of Wilmington or just along the outskirts, and those in the middle part of the district live in a very working-class suburban area. During the 2017-2018 school year, seventy-five percent of students identified as part of a racial/ethnic minority, with nearly forty percent of our students coming from families that have been identified as earning low incomes. This means that all students in the school receive free breakfast, lunch, and meals if they stay after school for sports or extra-curricular activities. In addition, nearly one-third of our students receive special education services and seven percent are identified as English Language Learners.
Students at William Penn choose a career pathway to explore over the course of their time in high school, which is what brings a considerable amount of recognition to our school and district. However, we have considerable variety in our core academic offerings as well, including Advanced Placement and entirely online Distance Learning courses. Although my teaching experience primarily consists of teaching general and special education social studies courses, I also became the Advanced Placement Human Geography teacher this school year. As this was my first year teaching the course, I have learned a lot about this new content and the academic rigor I should be asking of my ninth grade students that are aiming to earn college credit by taking my course.
Comments: