Lt. Governor Denn Announces Two "Excellence in Parental Involvement" Award Winners at Press Conference:

Anna P. Mote Elementary and McIlvaine Early Childhood Center

For Immediate Release: Wednesday, April 19, 2011

WILMINGTON, Del. (Tuesday, April 19, 2011) - Today, Lieutenant Governor Matt Denn announced the two schools honored with the 2nd Annual Lt. Governor’s Excellence in Parental Involvement Award during a press conference in New Castle County. 

The 2011 winners of the award are Anna P. Mote Elementary in Wilmington and McIlvaine Early Childhood Center in Dover.  The two winners were picked by a committee of parents, teachers, administrators, and representatives from the business community.

"I created the award in 2010 in as a way to enhance parental engagement in our schools," said Lt. Governor Denn.  "What I keep hearing from teachers and parents from all over the state is that having parents involved is key to a student’s success.  This award is a simple way to recognize schools that are doing a good job of involving parents - both because it encourages schools to excel and because it highlights schools that have come up with successful programs that other schools can replicate."

Anna P. Mote Elementary School is doing a variety of complementary things for parental involvement. Principal Aaron Selekman says, "At Mote we believe that if we want to be a school for the community, than we have to be a school of the community."

At Mote, each homeroom teacher identifies a homeroom parent who can coordinate parental engagement efforts, and the homeroom teachers developed broader lists of parents to call on to volunteer. The school started a program called Laugh and Learn, where the school allows parents an opportunity twice a month to meet socially and then hear informational discussions on topics such as nutrition, bullying, and financial planning. In addition, half of Mote’s student population consists of English language learners, so the school started English proficiency classes for parents and created after-school programs for their kids so parents could enhancing their English skills.

McIlvaine Early Childhood Center serves almost all of the kindergarten students in the Caesar Rodney School District in Dover and their work begins before school even starts.  Over the summer, a group of teachers form a "phone call brigade" and call every single student’s family, establishing relationships with the parents immediately, and also allows the school to identify students with special needs before they arrive at school. This is complemented by a more traditional "sneak peek" session for parents where they come to school before school starts to meet teachers, tour the building, and get acclimated. McIlvaine has programs throughout the year called Parent Parties that have separate themes and are designed to draw parents into the school.

"The faculty at McIlvaine Early Childhood Center has worked diligently and creatively to engage our school families as a part of the educational process," said Sherry Kijowski, Principal at McIlvaine.  "We strongly believe that the home and school must work together as a team to benefit the child.  Kindergarten is the start of a very important educational journey and we want families to be an integral part of that process."

The schools will again be recognized at the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce’s Superstars in Education dinner on May 2, 2011.  Jim Wolfe joined Lt. Gov. Denn today and said, "XXX"

Photo 1: James Wolfe, President and CEO of the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce; Dr. Kevin Fitzgerald, superintendent, Caesar Rodney School District; Matt Denn, Lieutenant Governor; Sherry Kijowski, principal, McIlvaine Early Childhood Center; Janine Sorbello, senior vice president for Education, Delaware State Chamber of Commerce.

Photo 2: Janine Sorbello (DE Chamber of Commerce), James Wolfe (President DE Chamber of Commerce), Aaron Selekman (Principal Anna P. Mote), Julia Sanchez (Reading Support/translator), Lt. Governor Matt Denn, Silvia Ceja (parent), Jomara Lara, Irinea Ayllon (Parent), Marbella Ayllon (Parent), Alice Conlin (Title I Reading Specialist/Support Staff), Dr. Merv Daugherty (Superintendent of Red Clay Schools), Brooke Ramsey (Support Staff)