Lt. Governor Denn in New Castle County on Monday, October 24th

Serves as Principal for a Day at Prestige Academy in Wilmington

Chairs Justice Reinvestment Task Force Meeting in New Castle

For Immediate Release: Friday, October 21, 2011

New Castle County - First, Lieutenant Governor Matt Denn will serve as Principal for a Day at Prestige Academy Charter School in Wilmington, Delaware.

Prestige Academy was founded in 2008 as the first single sex charter school in the State of Delaware. The school currently serves 300 male students in grades 5-8, a majority of whom are minorities from low income households. Prestige employs an educational model that has been successful with at-risk populations across the country - one where high expectations are set and where academics are given more time in a longer school day/school year in a highly structured, rigorous program. Character development is also a strong component of the program. Since its founding, Prestige Academy students have outperformed national academic growth rates by up to 120%.

The Principal for a Day program, run by the DE State Chamber of Commerce, is to help community leaders better understand the challenges faced by principals and teachers, so that they will gain a greater perspective of Delaware’s educational system. Lt. Governor Denn will be joined by Prestige Founder and Director Mr. Jack Perry and Board of Directors President Don Mell.

Lt. Governor Denn will then chair the third meeting of the Delaware Justice Reinvestment Task Force. The task force is studying Delaware’s criminal justice and correctional system and will help identify steps to enhance public safety, hold offenders more accountable, improve probation and parole supervision, lower recidivism rates, and recognize the factors driving growth in prison expenses, while ensuring that taxpayer money is spent wisely. There is an opportunity for public comment at the end of each of the study group’s meetings. Audio recordings of the each task force meetings and copies of any documents discussed by the study group will be posted on the Lieutenant Governor’s web site at http://ltgov.delaware.gov after the meeting.

Monday, October 24, 2011

8:00am – 12:00pm Principal for a Day
Prestige Academy
1121 Thatcher Street
Wilmington

2:00pm – 4:00pm Criminal Justice Council Justice Reinvestment Task Force
Buena Vista Conference Center
661 S. DuPont Highway
New Castle