Over the past sixteen years, Freire Charter School has built one of the most respected academic programs in the City of Philadelphia. Its high school campus has been the recipient of several local, state, and national awards for educational excellence. Now, the leadership of Freire aims to bring the same level of excellence to the students of Delaware.
For far too long, Delaware has been divided educationally into “haves” and “have-nots”. Only three public high schools in Delaware beat the national averages for sending their graduates off to college. The remaining thirty three high schools fall short. Kids who can test into magnet schools or have parents who can afford private schools get to be the haves. Too many kids who remain in these thirty three public high schools, however, are at risk of being have-nots. With our Philadelphia school sending a higher percentage of its graduates to college than every single Delaware public high school, Freire Wilmington is coming to town to shake the status quo up. If your child wants to go to college, he or she deserves to have the best college preparatory high school education possible.
Student Body: Freire Wilmington will open with grades 8, 9, and 10 this August in our first year. We will then add grade 11 in our second year and grade 12 following that. Fully enrolled, our school will span grades 8 to 12, following a five-year high school model. Students applying to Freire live in Wilmington and almost every neighborhood in its surrounding suburbs.
Class Size: There are four groups in each grade level. Each group has 28 students in it for a total of 112 students in each grade.
Campus: Freire Wilmington is located off the banks of the picturesque Brandywine River in the historic Mid-Town Brandywine neighborhood. Our building is a five-story former office building (the old Blue Cross/Blue Shield Building) that is currently being renovated into our state-of-the art school. With its location in Delaware’s largest city, Freire Wilmington is able to expose its students to a vast array of community resources as museums, galleries, theaters, and historical attractions are just footsteps away.
Transportation: Novel to Delaware, Freire Wilmington students utilize DART to get to and from Freire Wilmington. Students are provided DART passes by the school at no cost to the family. As a college prep school, we do not want our school culture shaped by the restraints of a yellow bus schedule. With a Writing Center, a Math Center, a Science Center, and all teachers offering extra help after school, we do not want our students forced to leave school because of a yellow bus schedule and not be able to stay for our academic supports. With DART, students have flexibility in their departure times and are empowered to make responsible decisions to foster their academic success.