News

The Indian River School District is offering a replay service for automated telephone messages sent through its AlertNow rapid notification system.

By visiting www.alertnowmessage.com, parents and staff members can enter their telephone number to access a list of automated messages sent to their home during the previous 15 days. They will also have the ability to listen to audio replays of the messages.

This service will assist those who may occasionally receive a partial or incomplete message through the automated system.

At a special emergency meeting on March 1, the Indian River Board of Education approved a series of changes to the 2009-2010 school district calendar.

The Indian River School District is pleased to announce that two of its teams captured state championships at the Delaware Odyssey of the Mind competition at the University of Delaware on March 6.

The Indian River School District special referendum originally scheduled for February 9 but postponed due to inclement weather has been rescheduled for Tuesday, March 30.

The referendum seeks approval for the transfer of $137,000 in existing major capital improvement funding to allow for the construction of additional classrooms at North Georgetown Elementary School and a building expansion at Selbyville Middle School.

Approval of the referendum will not result in a property tax increase for school district residents.

Jan Bomhardt and Anthony Cannon of Frankford Elementary School and Principal Mike Williams of Georgetown Middle School were honored by the Delaware School Counselor Association on February 3.

Bomhardt was named Sussex County Elementary School Counselor of the Year, while Williams received the DSCA Sussex County Administrator of the Year award. In addition, Anthony Cannon, a student advisor at Frankford Elementary, received a special Friend of the Counselor award.

The awards were presented at a special dinner at the Cheer Center in Georgetown.

The Indian River School District has received two of the prestigious Superstars in Education awards from the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce for 2010.

The Howard T. Ennis School in Georgetown was recently recognized as one of the best high schools in the United States by U.S. News & World Report and School Evaluation Services.

Ennis was one of 1,189 schools to receive bronze medal recognition in a nationwide analysis of academic and enrollment data. This is the third consecutive year that a district school has received this honor. Indian River High School earned bronze awards in 2007 and 2008.

Twenty-five Indian River School District students were awarded Ferguson Scholarships from the State of Delaware for exemplary performance on the March 2009 Delaware Student Testing Program.

A total of 26 scholarships worth $26,000 were awarded to district students who earned high scores on the reading, math and writing portions of the DSTP. Each scholarship is worth $1,000 and can be used once the student begins postsecondary education.

The list of district winners is as follows:

For the first time in its history, North Georgetown Elementary School has been named a National Distinguished Title I School.

The award, which is sponsored by the National Association of State Title I Directors, honors schools that have demonstrated significant sustained academic improvement despite having poverty rates of 35 percent or more.

“Things like this really validate what you do,” Principal Belinda Waples said. “This was like the icing on the cake for everybody – a great tribute to a really hard-working staff.”

The Independent Order of Odd Fellows’ Grand Lodge of Delaware recently donated a total of $4,000 to Selbyville Middle School and Phillip C. Showell Elementary School for the purchase of vision screening machines for students.

IOOF members visited Selbyville Middle School on Sept. 29 to present SMS with a check for $1,850 and Phillip C. Showell with a check for $2,150. Both schools will use the funding to purchase new vision screening machines, which will replace outdated models.