Best High School near Wilmington (Newark, Bear: home, purchasing, best schools)

[yeah-yo]

I need to find a good public high school near Wilmington. What are the best schools? Also, it seems like there are many bad schools. Do many people use private schools? Thank you.

[Nelly622]

Here's my suggestions based on living in Wilmington for 57 years and having 2 children in public schools:

Brandywine School District is good (north Wilmington)
Appoquinimink School District is good (Bear/Middletown area)
Some schools in Red Clay School District are good (I would recommend Cab Calloway High, A.I. du Pont High, and the best of all is Charter School of Wilmington)
Christiana School District is not so hot (no personal experience--just what I hear from other parents)
Newark School District is like Red Clay--some good schools and some not so good

If you check the local school ratings, you'll see which schools are rated schools of distinction.

Nice thing about Red Clay (and maybe other school districts) is you can choice your child to the high school you prefer regardless of what your feeder school is.

Good luck!

[Joe84323]

Most people concerned with their children's education who can afford it send their children to private school.

There are, however, a few decent schools in Wilmington, such as:

Charter School of Wilmington
Cab Calloway school of the arts
Alexis I. DuPont

Sorry the list is so small, but it's the truth.

Like the above post, the Brandyine School district is not too bad.

[rockky]

The great testing numbers are there for Wilmington Charter. There's no doubt about that. Please keep in mind that students do not funnel into this particular school based on a guaranteed placement per the geographic area of their residence. Purchasing a home near WC will not get your student 'a desk' there. Do some in depth research about how the school accepts students.

Cab Calloway School is a target school for students talented in the arts. Again, a good school, but this is not what is generally considered a school for your average kid.

A.I. DuPont is based on geographic residence.


Additionally I'll toss out, for consideration, Delaware Military Academy. This is, also, not a school which is fed based on geographic residence.

Schools in Delaware have some serious issues. There are wonderful teachers there, however the system itself is....well, I'll just say, IMHO I find it very odd. It appears to me that DSEA does not have the best outcome for students as their collective motivation. They are a very strong, active, politicized organization.

Delaware does have school choice, but getting past the waiting list is often impossible. By the time your kid gets to the 'top of the list' their age precludes them from their school of choice.

That's why, as Joe said, those who can afford to send their kids' to private schools do just that.

[Joe84323]

Originally Posted by rockky

The great testing numbers are there for Wilmington Charter. There's no doubt about that. Please keep in mind that students do not funnel into this particular school based on a guaranteed placement per the geographic area of their residence. Purchasing a home near WC will not get your student 'a desk' there. Do some in depth research about how the school accepts students.

Cab Calloway School is a target school for students talented in the arts. Again, a good school, but this is not what is generally considered a school for your average kid.

A.I. DuPont is based on geographic residence.


Additionally I'll toss out, for consideration, Delaware Military Academy. This is, also, not a school which is fed based on geographic residence.

Schools in Delaware have some serious issues. There are wonderful teachers there, however the system itself is....well, I'll just say, IMHO I find it very odd. It appears to me that DSEA does not have the best outcome for students as their collective motivation. They are a very strong, active, politicized organization.

Delaware does have school choice, but getting past the waiting list is often impossible. By the time your kid gets to the 'top of the list' their age precludes them from their school of choice.

That's why, as Joe said, those who can afford to send their kids' to private schools do just that.

AI now must be majority choice because of the huge number of crap schools in the area. I was to have been routed all the way to Glasgow from 19805, but I wanted some sort of decent education so I choiced into AI, which used to feed in from Hockessin and Greenville due to location.

Basically, most middle class HS kids in the Wilmington area go to:

(from cheapest/poorest to best)

St. Elizabeth (barely better than public, but better.)
St. Mark's High (mediocre)
Alexis I duPont
Cab Calloway
Charter
Salesianum
Padua
Ursuline
St. Edmond's
Caravel
Archmere
Tower Hill
Friends

McKean and Dickinson used to be somewhat decent but have gone way downhill.

[Juicy12]

I am relocating to Delaware but need to know what are the best places to live in Delaware . Can someone help me

[doctorjef]

Joe84323 provided a good list, but omitted the Tatnall School in Greenville, DE (just north of Wilmington proper). Tatnall is a private school that includes both lower and upper schools, extending through the 12th grade. I would think they provide quite a fine education for a very hefty price. Relative to Tower Hill and the other private schools, I wonder where Joe or others would see Tatnall fitting in.

[armx]

And what about Sanford -- Tatnall and Sanford are as, traditioanally, high brow - as Tower Hill.

Based on my personal experience for my sons, Public schools are just fine. Actually, I had my sons in a private school for the first two years and the private school was only interested in parents help raise the funds and not much about quality of education or a different approach to facilitate and expect excellence from the students. Actually, public school teachers were more amenable to hear my views - about different approach - than the private school teachers. I proposeed a major change in the criteria for judging a statewide "Science Olympiad" contest about bridge design and not only were the special project schoolteachers but the "Olympiad" officials receptive but they actually made the change in criteria per my proposal.

For one's child to get the maximum benefit from the public schools, one has to do is impress upon the child's teachers (by making time and insist on teacher-parent meeting - at every opportunity) that you are very interested in your child' academic progress. The teachers only want to see the parents of the bad students so when you insist on the meeting, however short, it makes a great impression on the teacher that you would be, as a matter of course, monitoring your child's progress. There is no better incentive for a teacher to pay special attention to your child than that, in my experience..