‘One of us’: Delaware community celebrates local educator during opening of Wilmington’s first new school in half a century

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This story was supported by a statehouse coverage grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Students will soon begin attending classes in the Maurice Pritchett Sr. Academy, the first new Wilmington school in 50 years.

A ribbon cutting and block party last week drew hundreds of people, with Christina School District staff, Gov. John Carney, U.S. Sen. Chris Coons, state lawmakers and the Pritchett family speaking to the crowd.

The $84 million building was named after longtime educator Maurice Pritchett, a student at the Bancroft School in the city’s East Side neighborhood who served as the school’s principal from 1975 to 2005. Pritchett died last year. Construction for the school that will serve students in grades one through eight was fully funded by the state.

Carney said he hopes the new facility will attract kids currently going to schools outside of the city.

“I firmly believe that this building will bring a lot of those families back to this neighborhood and into this beautiful school, and that’s part of what we’re trying to do,” he said.

Friday’s ribbon cutting was also a celebration of Pritchett and his life’s work of helping students learn. Some of the speakers shouted his name in a “call and response” rhythm with the crowd at the event.

Sen. Darius Brown was one of several who honored the former principal.

“He was not just the school principal, but he was one of us,” Brown said. “He was from the neighborhood because he grew up right here on Wilmington’s East Side. I see so many of the kids that grew up with me on the East Side here today, and it is a tribute to the legacy of Mr. Pritchett.”

Pritchett’s widow Juanita Pritchett said students will succeed if the new school is filled with love.

“Nothing happens unless there’s the love. As the children enter and receive love, they will leave. They will carry that love that they received from the Maurice Pritchett Sr. Academy. These children, as they leave, will heal the world because of the love given to them here.”

Bancroft has been one of the lowest performing schools in the state. Delaware Department of Education data from the 2022–2023 school year shows less than 7% of the school’s students were proficient in English and less than 4% were proficient in math.

Christina Interim Superintendent Bob Andrzejewski said it was possible with this new school to raise student performance.

“I just encourage all of you, the family, the friends, the community leaders and others to support the young people here and the staff and the leadership to make Maurice Academy the super special place that it is,” he said. “Because we don’t want just the new building. We want to be able to see our students do better and better.”

Bancroft was built in 1925. During this time period, a federal judge ordered an expansive busing plan to desegregate Delaware’s schools, which saw city students sent into the suburbs and vice versa. No new schools have been built in the city since.

There’s currently four school districts in the city. There is currently a plan under discussion to redistrict schools again so that Christina, which has schools in Wilmington and Newark, would withdraw from the city. A resolution adopted by state lawmakers earlier this year supports the concept, but acknowledges implementation may be years away.