October 2025 ASD Family Newsletter Keep scrolling to read about the people-places-things making news in our district!

Congratulations are in order for Silver Lake Elementary School, which was recently recognized as a Leader In Me 2025 Lighthouse Academic Honor Roll school! This recognition means the Silver Lake Bees have met the “rigorous requirements necessary to achieve and maintain Lighthouse School Certification and shown exemplary academic growth or proficiency as measured by state accountability standards,” reads Covey’s congratulatory letter to Principal Christy Boyd. Open this story to learn more!

Free Breakfast

All Appoquinimink School District schools have free breakfast! As a result of Delaware HB91, all students in Appoquinimink School District (and throughout the state) can receive free breakfast at their school! Students who wish to eat breakfast at school will follow their individual school procedures.

PaySchools Central

As a reminder, families now use PaySchools Central to manage student meal accounts. Once on the site, you will find our district, then add your student’s ID to create an account.

My School Menus

We now use My School Menus for our online meal menus. This new site offers a lot of great features including language translations, extensive nutrition facts, filters for allergens/preferences, printable menus, and much more!

Meal Benefit Applications

Your student may qualify for free meals. Families can submit applications for meal benefits. As a reminder, families need to apply every year to determine if they qualify.

The application can be completed through PaySchools Central. Families can complete the application after they have set up an account. Here’s the link: https://www.payschoolscentral.com/

If you need help or prefer to fill out a paper copy of the application, call the School Nutrition Office 302-378-5032 or stop by to see the team in the Marion E. Proffitt Training Center at 118 S. Sixth Street, Odessa, DE 19730.

AHS is a Special Olympics Unified Champion Banner School!

October 24 was a day of celebration for Appoquinimink High School. Not only was it Homecoming weekend, but the school also had the opportunity to celebrate its recognition as an official Special Olympics Delaware Unified Champion Banner School! This designation will last from 2025 through 2029.

This recognition means more than a banner on display in the school; it means AHS staff and students have demonstrated a strong commitment to inclusion through various means, including:

• Unified Sports opportunities,
• Youth Leadership Experiences for students with and without disabilities, and
• Whole School Engagement initiatives.

Way to go, AHS!

Kudos to all the athletes in our Special Olympics Bocce Tournament!

On October 25, we hosted our Appoquinimink School District Special Olympics Bocce Tournament at the Fairview Campus! We had about 300 students (athletes and unified partners) from grades 2-12 compete in the tournament. We also had about 70 student volunteers who helped ensure the event ran smoothly. Thank you to all involved for putting on a great event! Be sure to visit our website to see the full gallery with more than 150 pictures!

We hope everyone who attended our HBCU Night and College Fair, held earlier in October, had as much fun as we did! Thank you to all the colleges, universities, trade schools, military recruiters, and other organizations that attended. You can find the full gallery of pictures here!

Each year, we are proud to host High School Preview Nights at all three of our high school buildings to give our students and families the opportunity to experience our amazing schools. Our ASD High School Preview Nights introduce our middle school families to the immersive learning experiences, dynamic student body, engaging faculty, and diverse community that are hallmarks of an Appoquinimink School District education.

Here’s the schedule for all three events:

• Appoquinimink High School — November 4, from 6 - 8 p.m.
• Middletown High School — November 5, from 6 - 8 p.m.
• Odessa High School — November 6, from 6 - 8 p.m.

Doors will open at 5:45 p.m. at each high school. The principal at each building will begin their welcome presentation promptly at 6 p.m. and again at 6:20 p.m.

Our high schools have been celebrating Launch Into Your Future Week with various events aimed at helping seniors explore the many options available to them after graduation. From trades to different branches of the military to financial aid options for colleges, our seniors have learned a lot this fall. We'd also like to thank the community partners who came to our schools to help our students learn about career paths and higher education options! You can see more pictures from these events on our website here and here!

Be sure to visit our website to see pictures from Odessa High School and Appoquinimink High School's Healthcare Sciences Capstone presentations. If you're curious, you can learn more about capstones and work-based learning here!

Appoquinimink Advisory Boards hold meet and greet

In an effort to bridge the gap between the classroom and the workplace, our work-based learning team hosted a meet and greet for teachers and members of our Appoquinimink Advisory Boards. These boards work together with the district to provide strategic guidance and expertise based on their personal and professional experiences.

There are six advisory boards that align with our pathways: Agriculture; Business, Digital Communications, and Computer Science; Education and Leadership; Healthcare Sciences and Criminal Justice; Culinary and Hospitality; and STEM (Aerospace, Engineering, Construction).

You can find out more information about each board here.

You can see the full gallery of pictures here.

Celebrating Hispanic Heritage!

Two of our schools, Townsend Elementary and Silver Lake Elementary, held Hispanic Heritage nights this year. At these events, the schools celebrated heritage through food, dance, and informative presentations made by students. You can see more pictures from both events on our website!

In early October, representatives from the Delaware Department of Education spent a day at our Fairview Campus learning more about our district's Chinese Immersion Program. They began the day at Spring Meadow Early Childhood Center before visiting Cantwell's Bridge Middle School and, finally, Old State Elementary School. Their visit included classroom tours, roundtable discussions with the administrators at each school, and focus groups with students at CBMS and teachers at OSE.

We are hosting one information night again this year to share about our immersion programs, meet key staff, and tour our immersion classrooms! As an ASD parent, you can enroll your child in a traditional kindergarten program or "choice” into a stimulating immersion setting where children learn the same content, but have the added advantage of lessons taught in two languages (Spanish/English or Chinese/English) instead of one! If interested, we encourage you to attend our Immersion Information Night on Wednesday, November 12, 2025.

Our Immersion Information Night will take place at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, November 12, 2025, at Brick Mill Early Childhood Center, located at 360 Brick Mill Road, Middletown.

We have three programs for incoming kindergarten students:

• Chinese Immersion at Spring Meadow Early Childhood Center
• Spanish Immersion at Brick Mill Early Childhood Center and Townsend Early Childhood Center

CLICK HERE to learn more about our district's immersion programs.

2026 Teacher of Year Recognition

This month, Delaware Department of Education named the 2026 Delaware State Teacher of the Year. We wanted to take a moment to celebrate our district's Teacher of the Year, Bunker Hill Elementary School's Alison Suiter. We are so grateful to have amazing teachers like Mrs. Suiter in our district to inspire a new generation of learners! While Mrs. Suiter didn't take the statewide award, we do want to congratulate Brandywine School District's Jenna DiEleuterio on being named Delaware's 2026 Teacher of the Year!

Aimee Hastings's work in diabetes awareness earns national recognition

Aimee Hastings, who holds the roles of our district high-needs float nurse and diabetes support nurse, recently gained national recognition for her work in improving support for students with diabetes. Hastings’s manuscript, “Empowering School Nurses in Delaware, A Collaborative Approach to Improving Diabetes Management in Schools,” was accepted for publication in School Nurse, a National Association of School Nurses publication.

Dawn Hunter recognized with M.U.S.E. award

Please join us in congratulating Middletown High School’s Dawn Hunter, who was recently recognized as the Secondary M.U.S.E. award winner from the Delaware Art Education Association! Hunter is a visual arts teacher at MHS. As a M.U.S.E. award winner, Hunter exemplifies the characteristics of a Masterful, Unique, Strong Educator. DAEA noted this year’s award received a “significant number of applications, which made the selection process extremely competitive.” Hunter’s “dedication, effort, and passion for what you do really stood out.”

Please join us in congratulating Jim Hutton, our September 2025 Transportation Employee of the Month! Mr. Hutton joined the transportation team at Appoquinimink last year, ready to learn the ropes of driving a school bus. His energy and positivity make him a standout. He arrives at work early each day to ensure he picks up his students on time. Driving bus #205, Mr. Hutton services Everett Meredith Middle School, Appoquinimink High School, Cedar Lane Early Childhood Center, and Cedar Lane Elementary School.

These pictures are from the annual School Bus Roadeo, hosted by the Delaware Department of Education (DDOE), on the Fairview Campus! This year's event, on October 10, saw 36 participants from Delaware school districts and contract drivers compete to find out who is the best of the best when it comes to driving a school bus. Drivers were put through a number of challenges, like a knowledge test, pre-trip inspection, and driving maneuvers.

October is Physical Therapy Month!

Here in the Appoquinimink School District, our physical therapists are passionate about developing gross motor skills, attaining safe and independent movement, and creating exposure to a wide variety of physical activities to foster a lifetime love of movement and exercise for EVERY child. The impact of being able to be physically active plays a crucial role in your child’s education. Open this story to read more.

Visit our website to see more pictures from our Community of Wellness Fair! This annual event, hosted by our Restorative Community School site leaders, helps connect our school community with resources that support wellness. Thank you to all who worked to organize and host this event!

Appoquinimink High School hosted its 15th annual Tournament of Bands in early October. This event sees the area's top marching bands compete for placement and specialty awards. We have four photo albums from the night, so be sure to visit our website to see all of our coverage.

• Appoquinimink High School photo album
• Middletown High School photo album
• Odessa High School photo album
• Event Awards photo album

Silver Lake Elementary is growing a garden again this school year!

These pictures were taken in late September during one of the school's gardening sessions. You may recall the gardens were first built earlier this year with Healthy Foods for Healthy Kids. Silver Lake Elementary School is the 58th partner school to join the program!

Grubbin' with Grandparents at Brick Mill Elementary

In celebration of National Grandparent Day, Brick Mill Elementary hosted a "Grubbin' with Grandparents" where families were invited to attend their students' lunch period and share a meal!

These pictures are from Old State Elementary's annual Fun Run! At the event, held in early October, each grade level had the opportunity to run a few laps around the track at Odessa High School to help raise money for the school. And run they did!

Lion Ambassadors learn at lunch