New Year, New Opportunities To Prepare Delaware Students For Success

By on February 02, 2019

New Year, New Opportunities

MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR

Gary Stockbridge, president of Delmarva Power and chair of the Vision Coalition Leadership Team

A new year has begun and the Vision Coalition Leadership Team is ready for new opportunities to prepare every Delaware student for a lifetime of success.

We are excited to welcome two new Leadership Team members: Logan Herring and Katrina Daniels.

Their expertise inside classrooms and in the Delaware community will add tremendous value to our coalition. Learn more about our new Leadership Team members below.

In 2019, we are also looking forward to working with Governor Carney and his administration to further progress made in the core areas of Early Learning, Educator Support and Development, and Fair and Efficient Funding—which the governor outlined in his State of the State address earlier this month.

Last year, we celebrated collaboration at our 11th Annual Conference on Education. Collaboration—with students, parents, educators, and community members—is the thread that connects our work. We can’t wait to continue collaborating with you all this year on developing:

Key, data-driven measures of success to analyze and communicate progress in implementing Student Success 2025 
Analyses of work underway to understand what we can build upon, and where there are gaps
Concrete, collaborative actions to implement Student Success 2025 such as
- Increase quality across all early learning programs–including community, district, and home-visiting providers–for children birth to five by establishing and incrementally expanding voluntary, full-day, high quality prekindergarten
- Ensure sustainable state funding for Delaware Pathways in order to provide all students with early exposure to the workforce and higher education experiences
- Increase funding system equity by factoring student needs into funding allocations, and update the system so that funding follows each students

Like the Vision Coalition of Delaware on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and read our email newsletters for ways to get involved!

NEWS FROM THE LEADERSHIP TEAM

The Vision Coalition of Delaware is led by a Leadership Team of education, business, government, nonprofit, and community stakeholders from across the state.

We are excited to welcome two new Leadership Team members: Logan Herring and Katrina Daniels.

Logan S. Herring
Executive director for the Kingswood Community Center

In February of 2016, Logan assumed his current role as executive director for the Kingswood Community Center located in the northeast section of Wilmington. The center serves the young and old alike, including an early learning center, before- and after-care, teen programming, and senior center.

In addition to his work at Kingswood Community Center, Logan is also serving as CEO for REACH (Redevelopment Education & Community Health) Riverside, a nonprofit community development corporation created to lead the $100 million revitalization of the Riverside neighborhood under the nationally acclaimed and Warren Buffett-funded Purpose Built Communities model. Learn more about Logan and REACH Riverside here.

Katrina Daniels
Principal at the Colonial Early Education Program

Katrina Daniels began her educational career as a kindergarten teacher in 2002. She has worked as a teacher in the Lake Forest and Christina school districts. After eight years of teaching, Ms. Daniels became an assistant principal at the Widener Partnership Charter School in Chester, Pennsylvania. In 2014, she became an assistant principal in the Colonial School District and is currently the principal at the Early Childhood Education Program.

Ms. Daniels received her undergraduate degree in early childhood education as well as a dual master’s degree in curriculum and instruction, and special education from Delaware State University. Learn more about Katrina here.

PROGRESS MADE IN THE CORE AREAS
OF STUDENT SUCCESS 2025

EARLY LEARNING

Delaware wins $4.2 million federal preschool development grant
Delaware has won a one-year federal Preschool Development Grant to strengthen its early childhood system. The funds will help the state better prepare children from all backgrounds to enter kindergarten ready to learn and will improve their transition between early childhood programs and the K-12 system.

POSTSECONDARY SUCCESS

Conference prepares hundreds of students with disabilities for future careers
On December 12, hundreds of local high school students with disabilities attended an all-day transition conference focusing on their future career and employment goals as well as learning what’s current in transition services for youth with disabilities in Delaware.

The conference offered workshops for students and adults shaped around the supportive nature of the transition community and important youth topics including employment, soft skills, leading your individualized education plan (IEP) meeting, and work-based learning.

SYSTEM GOVERNANCE, ALIGNMENT, AND PERFORMANCE

State launches first phase of Delaware Report Card
The Delaware Department of Education launched the first phase of its new Delaware Report Cards. The Delaware Report Cards, which replace the state’s school profiles, are designed for parents and caregivers and focused on sharing data in a usable and digestible manner.

The Delaware Report Cards provide data on school ratings, college and career readiness, chronic absenteeism, graduation rates, educator demographics and experience, and student behavior.

ABOUT THE VISION COALITION OF DELAWARE
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The Vision Coalition of Delaware is a coalition of public, private, and civic leaders committed to moving education forward for Delaware’s students. The Vision Coalition Leadership Team includes:Tony Allen, Ph.D.
Provost, Delaware State UniversityJeffrey T. Benson, Jr.
President – One Direction Insurance – Benson Development Group, LLC

Susan Bunting
Delaware Secretary of Education

Heath Chasanov
Superintendent, Woodbridge School District

Katrina Daniels
Principal at the Colonial Early Education ProgramErnest J. Dianastasis
CEO, The Precisionists, Inc.

Elizabeth ‘Liz’ Farley-Ripple, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Education and Public Policy in the School of Education and an Affiliate of the Institute for Public Administration at the University of Delaware

Dorrell Green
Director of Innovation and Improvement, Delaware Department of Education

Paul A. Herdman
President and CEO, Rodel Foundation of Delaware

Logan S. Herring
Executive Director for the Kingswood Community Center

Mark Holodick
Superintendent, Brandywine School District

Leslie Newman
Chief Executive Officer, Children & Families First of Delaware

Justina M. Sapna
Vice President for Academic Affairs at Delaware Technical Community College

Gary Stockbridge
President, Delmarva Power

Javier G. Torrijos
Chair, Delaware Hispanic Commission and Assistant Director of Construction at Delaware Department of Transportation

Margie López Waite
Head of School at Las Américas ASPIRA Academy