The Wilmington Learning Collaborative was established with a mission to improve educational outcomes for students while empowering educators, school leaders, and communities in Wilmington, Delaware schools. But what does it look like to shape the future of education through school collaboration? Keep reading to learn more about our plans and progress so far.

How it Started: The WLC’s Three Big Shifts

In April, the WLC hosted its first Connected Communities event—the first in a series of open conversations to gather input from our community. This process further helped the WLC define our action commitments for 2024/2025, known as the Three Big Shifts.

Now that the school year is in full swing, we’re excited to share more about The Three Big Shifts, what they mean to the WLC, and what initiatives we’re developing to support these shifts.

Big Shift #1: Students First 

The WLC is focused on establishing a culture of learning centered on a shared belief that all children can achieve. We will continuously develop and invest in all adults serving the children in WLC schools and will additionally develop success goals for all students, supported by a culturally relevant learning environment that affirms the whole child.

Big Shift #2: Connected Schools

The WLC aims to build connections and strengthen communication across schools through shared resourcing and responsibility. This includes cultivating school collaboration across our network—through equitable access to learning opportunities that strengthen skills for those serving our children, authentically engaging with the broader Wilmington community, and removing existing barriers to sustain the work of the WLC.

Big Shift #3: Purposeful Partnerships

The WLC will develop partnerships that build capacity, ensuring consistent resources, access to personnel, and information across all WLC schools. We seek to deliver a community-led partnership readiness and evaluation system and launch a citywide strategy to attract continued capacity and funding support, ensuring the WLC’s sustainability.

How It’s Going: Our Projects and Progress

With the Three Big Shifts guiding our work, the Wilmington Learning Collaborative has been making strides with new programs and initiatives being implemented at our WLC schools and within our community. Some highlights so far include:

• Community Councils—The WLC has been working closely with Children & Families First, establishing Community Councils at each school. This has included onboarding Site Coordinators and Parent Ambassadors for all of our WLC schools.
  
• The Chill Project—In partnership with Allegheny Health Network (AHN), the WLC is piloting a new behavioral health support system at The Bayard School and Maurice Pritchett Sr. Academy. Modeled after the Chill Project™ at AHN, this new initiative provides resources for students, teachers, and parents, including one-to-one counseling, support groups, school-based outpatient services, school-wide preventative services, professional development opportunities, social-emotional curriculum, classroom consultations, and more.
  
• Digital Promise—Earlier this year, the WLC began working alongside 15 school districts across the country in a cohort to uncover the root causes of chronic absenteeism and collaboratively craft strategies and solutions that meet the unique needs of our students and families.
  
• ELT Convenings—The WLC has officially launched Educator Leaders Team Convenings. Our first convening, held in July, focused on school collaboration, capacity building, and visioning for the year ahead. Our next ELT Convening will take place in October.
  
• Maurice Pritchett Sr. Academy—Last month, we celebrated a significant milestone with the opening of Maurice Pritchett Sr. Academy—Wilmington’s first new school in 50 years—and we are thrilled to welcome this new school to the WLC as one of our nine partner schools.
  
• Summer Learning Project with Reading Assist—Students at The Bayard School, Pulaski Early Education Center, and Stubbs Early Education Center showed incredible progress after participating in our Summer Learning program with Reading Assist. Data from the Summer 2024 Report indicated that students who participated grew in three out of three measures of foundational literacy. Reading Assist exceeded the growth goal of 70%, showing growth in at least one measure, with 90% showing growth.
  
• Wellness Wednesdays—As part of our commitment to empowering educators, the WLC is now hosting Wellness Wednesdays on the last Wednesday of each month. These events are designed to allow teachers to relax, recharge, and connect with their peers while enjoying mindfulness activities, nourishing food, and shared community.

What’s Next for the WLC? Follow Along for the Latest Updates

As our Three Big Shifts continue to inspire new initiatives at our WLC schools, we are just getting started with introducing more exciting projects and programs.

New things are happening all the time, so we encourage you to stay informed by following us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and X and subscribing to the WLC’s monthly newsletter for the latest updates. You can also visit our What’s Happening page for upcoming event dates and opportunities to get involved.