Brandywine School District

School district in Delaware, United States

Brandywine School District

Location

1311 Brandywine Boulevard Wilmington, DE 19809

United States
District information
Grades| PreK-12
Superintendent| Dr. Lisa Lawson
Schools| 16
NCES District ID| 1001240
Students and staff
Students| 10,500
Teachers| 919
Staff| 622
Other information
Website| brandywineschools.org

Brandywine School District (abbreviated BSD) is a public school district in northern New Castle County, Delaware in the United States.

It serves Arden, Ardencroft, Ardentown, Bellefonte, Claymont, Edgemoor,[1] Talleyville,[2] and a northeast portion of the city of Wilmington.[1] It also includes Brandywine Hundred. The size of its territory is 33 square miles (85 km2).[3]

Its administrative offices are in an unincorporated area, and has a Wilmington postal address.[4]

The district also offers a program known as the gifted and talented program. The program is for children with a higher understanding of grade level assignments. There are three schools participating in this program: Mount Pleasant Elementary School, Claymont Elementary School, and P.S. duPont Middle School. Mount Pleasant High School and Talley Middle School offer the International Baccalaureate program for students who test into the program.

## History

[edit]

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (June 2021)

|

Established in 1981, it took a portion of the former New Castle County School District.[5]

In 2000 the school board bought out the contract of superintendent Joseph P. DeJohn so that he would leave, and the board had plans to choose a new superintendent.[6] That year Al Mascitti, a columnist for The News Journal, stated that the school board "started treating the district like a foul-smelling refrigerator".[7]

## Administration

[edit]

The current superintendent is Dr. Lisa Lawson. The current board of education president is Ralph Ackerman, and the current vice president is Dr. Shawn Jegede.[8]

## Demographic

[edit]

In the 2019–2020 school year, the district enrolled 10,500 students and employed 919 teachers for a student-to-teacher ratio of about 11.43:1.[9] Between 2012 and 2016 it was recorded that the students 66% Caucasian, 22% African-American, 5% Asian, and 4% Hispanic or Latino. Within the district during this time 12.5% of families have an income below the poverty level, and 21.9% receive Food Stamp/SNAP benefits.[10]

## Partnership

[edit]

The school district partnered with the University of Delaware program TeenSHARP to help prepare selected students in the district for top colleges, where students engage in up to two college-level course each school year, for up to 4 years.[11]

## Schools

[edit]

High schools (grades 9–12)

* Brandywine High School
* Concord High School
* Mount Pleasant High School

Middle schools (grades 6–8)

* P.S. duPont Middle School
* Springer Middle School
* Talley Middle School

Elementary schools (grades K–5)
David W. Harlan Elementary School

* Carrcroft Elementary School
* Claymont Elementary School
* Forwood Elementary School
* Hanby Elementary School
* Harlan Elementary School
* Lancashire Elementary School
* Lombardy Elementary School
* Maple Lane Elementary School
* Mount Pleasant Elementary School

Preschool programs (PreK)

* Charles W. Bush Early Education Center
* Joseph Brumskill Early Childhood Assistance Program (ECAP)

## Notable events

[edit]

In 2006, a Claymont Elementary school teacher was arrested for first-degree rape, and providing alcohol to a minor, after it was discovered that she had sex with a 13-year-old male student twenty-eight times. She also allowed for the child's 12-year-old friend to watch them and provided them with alcohol. She pled guilty to a single count of second-degree rape and received a mandatory minimum 10-year sentence.[12][13]

A federal lawsuit was levied against the district in 2016, as a mis-identification and subsequent search discovered weapons in a students bag, caused a 5-day out of school suspension. After the mis-identification was discovered the father raised the suit of potential Fourth Amendment violations, when he discovered the suspension would stay on his sons record.[14] The lawsuit led, to students and their personal property cannot be searched without a parent or guardian present.[15]

In 2018, a blue school bus was unveiled to help feed students during the summer when school is out of session, and funded through the USDA's Summer Food Service Program. District Supervisor of School Nutrition Pam Gouge, highlighted the need for the bus as nearly half of the districts students qualify for a free or reduced lunch, and the Food Bank had pulled out of areas.[16] That year also saw the district participating in the National School Walkout, organized by the survivors of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting.[17]

In 2019 it was announced that a middle schooler from the district was invited to sit with Melania Trump for the 2019 State of the Union address, after reports that he was bullied as he shares the same last name as President Donald Trump.[18]

In November 2022, Two 8th graders were taken to hospital after ingesting marijuana gummies at Springer Middle School.[19]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "2020 CENSUS - SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP: New Castle County, DE" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved June 18, 2021.
2. ^ "1990 COUNTY BLOCK MAP (RECREATED): NEW CASTLE County" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved July 4, 2021. \- Talleyville is on page 3. Compare to the school boundary maps.
3. ^ "Welcome to the Brandywine School District!". Brandywine School District. Retrieved July 4, 2021.
4. ^ "Home". Brandywine School District. Retrieved June 18, 2021. "1311 Brandywine Boulevard Wilmington, DE 19809" \- The address does not match any municipalities, despite the Wilmington, DE address.
5. ^ "New Castle County School District". Government of Delaware. Retrieved March 31, 2025.
6. ^ "Board to choose district's new leader". The News Journal. Wilmington, Delaware. August 24, 2000. p. B3. \- Clipping from Newspapers.com.
7. ^ Mascitti, Al (August 24, 2000). "Something's still rotten on the Brandywine board". The News Journal. Wilmington, Delaware. p. B3. \- Clipping from Newspapers.com.
8. ^ "Meet the School Board". Archived from the original on August 28, 2020. Retrieved August 28, 2020.
9. ^ "Welcome to the Brandywine School District!". Brandywine School District. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved September 3, 2020.
10. ^ "ACS-ED: Brandywine School District Demographic Dashboard 2012-2016". EDGE: Education Demographic and Geographic Estimates. Retrieved July 5, 2019.
11. ^ Thomas, Yvonne (November 3, 2017). "Our schools should challenge kids so they're ready for college: Delaware Voice". delawareonline. Retrieved February 5, 2019.
12. ^ "Teacher charged with raping student 28 times". CNN. April 6, 2006. Archived from the original on April 6, 2006. Retrieved January 6, 2022.
13. ^ "Commutation denied in teacher sex case". The News Journal. February 14, 2014. Archived from the original on January 6, 2022. Retrieved January 6, 2022.
14. ^ Hale Spencer, Saranac (April 6, 2016). "Brandywine School District faces civil rights suit". delawareonline. Retrieved February 5, 2019.
15. ^ Cherry, Amy (May 2017). "EXCLUSIVE | Brandywine School District changes policy after alleged unconstitutional search of student results in lawsuit". WDEL 101.7FM. Retrieved February 5, 2019.
16. ^ Schmidt, Sophia (June 3, 2018). "Brandywine School District to feed kids with food bus this summer". www.delawarepublic.org. Retrieved February 5, 2019.
17. ^ Cherry, Amy (February 22, 2018). "Brandywine will support National School Walkout, while Caesar Rodney declines". WDEL 101.7FM. Retrieved February 5, 2019.
18. ^ "Boy bullied over Trump name to be president's guest at State of the Union". FOX31 Denver. February 5, 2019. Retrieved February 5, 2019.
19. ^ on 6abc, Action News (November 17, 2022). "Two 8th graders taken to hospital after ingesting marijuana gummies at school". Head Topics. Retrieved March 17, 2023.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

## External links

[edit]

* Brandywine School District's Home Page

## Sources

[edit]

* [1]

* v
* t
* e

Education in New Castle County, Delaware

Public
schools|

| Appoquinimink SD|

* Appoquinimink HS
* Middletown HS
* Odessa HS

|

Brandywine SD|

* Brandywine HS
* Concord HS
* Mount Pleasant HS

Christina SD|

* Christiana HS
* Glasgow HS
* Newark HS
* Delaware School for the Deaf

Colonial SD|

* William Penn HS

Red Clay
Cons. SD|

* Alexis I. duPont HS
* John Dickinson (HS)
* Thomas McKean HS
* Cab Calloway School of the Arts
* Conrad Schools of Science

| Closed|

* Wilmington HS

|

Smyrna SD|

* Note that Smyrna HS is located in Kent County

NCCVTSD|

* Delcastle Tech HS
* Hodgson Vo-Tech HS
* Howard HS of Tech
* St. Georges Tech HS

Charter|

* Charter of Wilmington
* Delaware Military Acad
* MOT Charter
* Newark Charter

| Closed|

* Pencader Charter HS

|

Historical|

* NCCSD
* P. S. Dupont HS
* Wilmington HS
* Charles B. Lore ES
* Redding Comprehensive HS

Private
schools|

* Archmere
* Delaware Valley Classical
* Centreville Layton
* Padua
* Red Lion
* St. Andrew's
* St. Anne's Episcopal
* St. Elizabeth
* St. Mark's
* Salesianum
* Sanford
* Tatnall
* Tower Hill
* Ursuline
* Wilmington Christian
* Wilmington Friends
* Wilmington Montessori

| Closed|

* St. Mary's

|

Tertiary|

* University of Delaware
* template
* Goldey–Beacom College
* Wilmington University

Libraries|

* Hagley Museum and Library
* Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library

This list is incomplete.

* v
* t
* e

City of Wilmington

Areas|

| Historic districts|

* Baynard Boulevard
* Brandywine Village
* Church Street
* Cool Spring Park
* Delaware Ave
* Shipley Run
* Wawaset Park
* West 9th Street Commercial

|

Education|

* Brandywine SD
* Christina SD
* Colonial SD
* Red Clay Consolidated SD
* Cab Calloway School of the Arts
* NCCVTSD
* Howard HS of Tech
* Charter of Wilmington

* Padua Acad
* St. Elizabeth HS
* Salesianum Sch
* Serviam Girls Acad
* Tower Hill Sch
* Ursuline Acad

| Closed|

* Delaware College of Art and Design
* P. S. Dupont HS
* Wilmington HS
* Charles B. Lore ES
* St. Mary's

|

Transportation|

* Wilmington station
* Wilmington Airport (near Wilmington)

Landmarks|

* Bancroft Mills
* Brandywine Park
* Brandywine Zoo
* Delaware Art Museum
* Delmarva Power & Light Building
* Daniel S. Frawley Stadium
* Grand Opera House
* Old Town Hall
* Howard R. Young Correctional Institution

| NRHP sites|

* Fort Christina
* St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church (Wilmington, Delaware)

|

History|

* Timeline
* Race riot of 1919
* Riot of 1968

This list is incomplete. This template only lists high schools actually in the Wilmington city limits and not places which have "Wilmington, DE" addresses but are not in the city limits.

* v
* t
* e

Education in Delaware

Colleges and
universities|

* Delaware College of Art and Design
* Delaware State University
* Delaware Technical & Community College
* Goldey-Beacom College
* University of Delaware
* Wesley College
* Widener University School of Law
* Wilmington University

Schools|

* Athletic conferences
* High schools
* Charter schools
* Private schools
* Vocational and technical schools

Public schools|

* Appoquinimink
* Brandywine
* Caesar Rodney
* Cape Henlopen
* Capital
* Christina
* Colonial
* Delmar
* Indian River
* Lake Forest
* Laurel
* Milford
* NCC Votech
* Polytech
* Red Clay
* Seaford
* Smyrna
* Sussex Technical
* Woodbridge

Libraries|

* Delaware Division of Libraries

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template