Delaware State University in Dover is planning to submit an application to the Delaware Department of Education to open a charter school on campus.
The Delaware State University Early College High School would be designed to serve first-generation, college-bound students. Under the plan, high achieving students would receive their high school diploma and up to two years of credit for college-level courses.
Dr. Alton Thompson, provost and vice president for academic affairs at Delaware State, says, “The Early College High School at DSU will be an innovative learning environment designed to inspire students who have the potential and motivation to be the first in their families to graduate from college. It would provide them with an exceptional academic program that truly prepares them for success in college and beyond.”
The new charter high school would not be the first on the DSU campus. In 1893, what was then known as the State College for Colored Students established a two-year preparatory school to help students get ready for a college education.
I am a 1947 graduate of the Delaware State College High School and the college in 1951.
Had the high school not been available, I would not have had the opportunity to complete a college education and attend graduate schools at the University of Maryland College Park and the University of Chicago.
I would support the reemergence of a charter high school at DSU.