George Read Middle School is a part of the New Castle, Delaware community in the Colonial School District. The vision of Colonial is to be an innovative leader in academic excellence providing students with positive and appropriate learning experiences delivered by well trained, empowered staff. In an on-going effort to prepare students for the challenges of high school and beyond the Colonial School District has built degree programs based on themes that were derived from students, parents, and community interests. The purpose of these degree programs and themes is to add relevance to learning, increase student achievement and attendance, decrease student discipline problems, design an innovative curriculum that is hands-on, inquiry based and driven by Common Core State Standards.
The theme that will guide George Read’s redesign effort is Agriculture. In our first year of the redesign (2015-2016) we have added Agriculture as an exploratory with a highly qualified instructor, FFA (Future Farmers of America) as an extra-curricular activity and planned trips to the local Penn Farm that is managed by William Penn High School students. By the end of this school year we will make physical changes to the grounds of George Read to promote additional on-site learning opportunities for our students. Such as, three 24 feet by 4 feet planting beds, six small portable greenhouses, a Koi pond, and a wet land project. Over the next few years, we are planning to add additional courses like Culinary Arts, Marketing, and Accounting with the goal of opening a fully functioning Farm Stand that is operated and managed by George Read students.
We are off to a great start to the school year and look forward to keeping you updated about our progress in regards to curriculum, student activities and alterations to the school grounds.