The Christina School District is a Delaware public school district located primarily in the Newark area and a non-contiguous portion of Wilmington. The district office is located in the Drew Educational Support Center in Wilmington, with Dan Shelton as the current superintendent. The district includes Newark, Brookside, central portions of Wilmington, most of Glasgow, about half of Bear, half of North Star, and parts of Pike Creek and Pike Creek Valley.

History

The district was created on July 1, 1981, from the New Castle County School District after legislation passed in 1980 permitted the State Board of Education to divide the New Castle County School District into smaller districts. At the time all students in grades 5 and 6 went to schools of those grade levels, all of them in the city of Wilmington, to satisfy a State of Delaware desegregation directive that came into place in 1978. From 1984 to 1988 its student population increased by 2,000 and it was the largest school district in Delaware. From 1987 to 1988 the student population increased by 500. Due to the growth, in 1988 two elementary schools were under construction, with completion scheduled in 1989, and the district enacted a $29.6 million program to build two additional schools and expand four. The district aimed to build capacity in Wilmington as it anticipated more grade 5-6 students enrolling. Additionally, it had one active school and one school not yet open south of Baltimore Pike despite having 1,877 students in grades Kindergarten through 3rd grade. Lillian M. Lowery served as Superintendent of the Christina School District from 2006 until her appointment as Secretary of the Delaware Department of Education in 2009, and was subsequently appointed as Superintendent of the Maryland State Department of Education in 2012.

Schools

High schools

Middle schools

Elementary/middle schools

Elementary schools

Early childhood education

Other schools/programs

Former schools

Facilities

Its current administrative offices are in the Drew Educational Support Center in Wilmington. It was formerly the Dr. Charles Richard Drew Elementary School. It previously had its administrative headquarters in Newark. These administrative offices were formerly housed in the Old Newark Comprehensive School.

Dress code

By 1998 three schools: the early childhood center, Shue-Medill Middle School, and Drew-Pyle Elementary School had adopted school uniforms, prompting other districts to consider it, though in 1998 the number of public schools in Delaware with uniforms was below 20.

Controversy

The district has been criticized for its strict interpretation of its "no weapons" policy. In 2009 it suspended a six-year-old Cub Scout for taking a camping utensil to school and wanted to send the child to its alternative placement school for 45 days as punishment. In 2007 the District expelled a seventh-grade girl for using a utility knife to cut windows out of a paper house for a class project. In 2011, a seventh-grader was suspended and almost expelled for dyeing her hair.