Conrad Schools of Science

Last updated
Conrad Schools of Science
Address
Conrad Schools of Science
201 Jackson Avenue

Wilmington
,
Delaware
19804

United States
Coordinates 39°43′22″N75°36′05″W / 39.7229°N 75.6013°W / 39.7229; -75.6013
Information
Type Public high school
MottoDoing It The Conrad Way!
School district Red Clay Consolidated School District
CEEB code 080228
NCES School ID 100130000270 [1]
PrincipalKendra Todd-Dixon
Teaching staff65.00 (FTE) [1]
Grades6–12
Enrollment1,169 (2022–2023) [1]
Student to teacher ratio17.98 [1]
Color(s)Scarlet and gray
  
MascotRed Wolves
NewspaperThe Conrad Howler
Website www.redclayschools.com/conrad

Conrad Schools of Science is a public high school in unincorporated New Castle County, Delaware, United States and has a Wilmington postal address. [2] It opened in 1935 as the Henry C. Conrad High School before closing in 1978 to become the middle school; existing students were bussed to Wilmington High School. [3] It reopened in 2007 as the magnet school Conrad Schools of Science. [4] It is one of seven high schools in the Red Clay Consolidated School District and offers grades six through twelve. [1] [4] [5]

Contents

Student life

Athletics

Conrad Schools are part of the Diamond State Athletic Conference. [6]

Mascot

In 2015, after her complaints about the atmosphere of discrimination toward people of color that existed in the school, a high school senior named Deja'rene Harris (class of 2015) was tasked with forming a committee to address these issues. The name given to the group was the Diversity Committee. When the weekly meeting notes were discovered by the Alumni Association of Conrad Schools of Science, many were shocked to see that there were talks about the appropriateness of using the "Redskins" mascot - one that had been used already for 80 years of the school's history. The Diversity Committee noted that this mascot was seen as offensive [7] and was another one of the many indicators of the school's difficult relationship with communities of color.

These comments sparked outrage within the Alumni Association at the perceived insults to their beloved mascot. At the request of the school's administrators including the then-principal Mark Pruitt and then-vice principal Andy Vincent, the Diversity Committee began hosting meetings with the Alumni Association regarding these issues. Members of the committee, including Dejarene Harris, Lisa Holden ('15) and Yasmine Allen ('15) with the company of other teachers and parents, broke off into a new group called the Retire the Mascot Committee.[ citation needed ]

The Retire the Mascot Committee's mission statement centered on "[promoting] a cultural understanding for the retirement of our current Conrad Schools of Science mascot and [to] select a yet to be named, new mascot, that will proudly represent our school, our community, and our history". [8] The group, led by the aforementioned 3 young women, held weekly meetings with the Alumni Association with each group taking and defending their stance - The Alumni Committee voting to keep the "Redskin" mascot and the Retire the Mascot Committee, of course, fighting to abolish it.

The meetings garnered far more attention than expected, gaining support on both sides from students, teachers, area locals, various news outlets, and native groups. [9] [10] [11] The issue was never resolved within the school and the students that led the movement graduated in Spring of 2015, putting an end to the meetings, but not to the discussion. In June 2016, the issue was put to a vote by the Red Clay School Board who voted 4–2 in favor of the change. In early 2017, the public voted overwhelmingly for its replacement to be the Red Wolves. [12] [13]

Although the disagreement was resolved officially with the vote, the new Red Wolves mascot was adopted with enthusiasm by the student body and staff at the time of the change, and the school has been heavily redecorated with the new mascot - the issue is still a sensitive matter to some. Many members of the Alumni Association still choose to use the old headdress or 'Indian chief' logo of the school [14] and others have started a movement called "Redskins Forever" [15] - whose bumper stickers, hoodies, and other paraphernalia can be seen around the surrounding area.

Notable alumni

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hockessin, Delaware</span> CDP in Delaware, United States

Hockessin is a census-designated place (CDP) in New Castle County, Delaware, United States. The population was 13,478 at the 2020 Census.

Redskin is a slang term for Native Americans in the United States and First Nations in Canada. The term redskin underwent pejoration through the 19th to early 20th centuries and in contemporary dictionaries of American English, it is labeled as offensive, disparaging, or insulting. Although the term has almost disappeared from contemporary use, it remains in use as a sports name and branding. The most prominent was the NFL's Washington Redskins, who resisted decades opposition before retiring the branding in 2020 following renewed attention to racial justice in the wake of the murder of George Floyd and subsequent protests. While the usage by other teams has been declining steadily, 37 high schools in the United States continue to be Redskins. School administrators and alumni assert that their use of the name is honoring their local tradition and not insulting to Native Americans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charter School of Wilmington</span> Charter school in Wilmington, Delaware, United States

The Charter School of Wilmington (CSW) is a college preparatory charter high school in Wilmington, Delaware. It is Delaware's first independently operated public school whose curriculum emphasizes math and science. It shares the former Wilmington High School building with Cab Calloway School of the Arts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cab Calloway School of the Arts</span> Public secondary art school in Wilmington, Delaware, United States

Cab Calloway School of the Arts (CCSA) is an arts-oriented magnet school in Wilmington, Delaware, operated by the Red Clay Consolidated School District. The school offers grades six through twelve and each student chooses a particular focus in the field of arts that they study throughout school; they must take an assessment or audition in this area upon applying.

Red Clay Consolidated School District is a public school district in northern New Castle County, Delaware. Founded in 1981, Red Clay serves a portion of the city of Wilmington, as well as its northwestern suburbs.

Alexis I. duPont High School (AI) is a public high school located in Greenville, Delaware, with a Wilmington postal address, is one of the three public high schools offering grades 9–12 in the Red Clay Consolidated School District. During the 2019–2020 school year 807 students were enrolled. Areas zoned to AI come from portions of Wilmington and several suburbs, including Greenville, most of Hockessin, a portion of North Star, and Centreville, as well as nearby Breck's Mill. In Wilmington, it serves the historic districts of Cool Spring Park, Delaware Avenue, and Wawaset Park.

The John Dickinson School, previously known as John Dickinson High School, is a public high school in the Pike Creek area of Wilmington, Delaware. It is one of five high schools in the Red Clay Consolidated School District and serves parts of Newport, Stanton, Hockessin, Wilmington, North Star, Pike Creek, Pike Creek Valley, Baynard Boulevard, and Brandywine Village.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tatnall School</span> Nonprofit, college-prep day school in Wilmington, Delaware, United States

The Tatnall School is a private college-preparatory school in unincorporated New Castle County, Delaware; it has a Wilmington postal address and is adjacent to, but not in, the Greenville census-designated place.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Delaware Military Academy</span> Charter school in Wilmington, Delaware, United States

The Delaware Military Academy (DMA) is a publicly-funded charter high school in unincorporated New Castle County, Delaware and has a Wilmington postal address. The Academy was founded in 2003 by Charles Baldwin, a retired Master Chief Petty Officer from the United States Navy, and Jack Wintermantel, a retired Colonel from the United States Army. All students are required to participate in the Naval Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps, or NJROTC; DMA is the first successful all-JROTC military charter school in the US. DMA offers grades nine through twelve and has been designated a Blue Ribbon School.

Thomas McKean High School is a comprehensive public high school located on 301 McKennan's Church Road in unincorporated New Castle County, Delaware, with a Wilmington postal address. It is a part of the Red Clay Consolidated School District. The school opened in December 1966, and its first class graduated in June 1967.

John Jay High School is a public high school located in Lewisboro, New York. It is the only high school in the Katonah-Lewisboro School District. The school, which opened in 1956, is named after John Jay, a Founding Father of the United States, and first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, who lived nearby. Over the years, the school former mascot, the Indians, had been controversial, and it was decided in November 2019 to retire the mascot in favor of a new one. In 2020, the school announced that their new mascot would be the Wolves, a nod to the nearby Wolf Conservation Center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wichita North High School</span> High school in Wichita, Kansas, United States

Wichita North High School, known locally as North, is a public secondary school in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is operated by Wichita USD 259 school district and serves students in grades 9 to 12. The school was founded in 1929 on the site where the United States government previously sent Company 'A' of the 10th Division to the forks of the Arkansas River to oversee incoming cattle drivers and separate them from Native Americans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Native American mascot controversy</span> Controversy regarding the use of Indigenous names and images by sports teams

Since the 1960s, the issue of Native American and First Nations names and images being used by sports teams as mascots has been the subject of increasing public controversy in the United States and Canada. This has been a period of rising Indigenous civil rights movements, and Native Americans and their supporters object to the use of images and names in a manner and context they consider derogatory. They have conducted numerous protests and tried to educate the public on this issue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arkansas State Red Wolves</span> Athletic teams representing Arkansas State University

The Arkansas State Red Wolves are the athletic teams of Arkansas State University. They are a member of the Sun Belt Conference in all sports except women's bowling, a sport not sponsored by that league, competing at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level. As of the next NCAA bowling season in 2023–24, the bowling team will compete in Conference USA, which absorbed the single-sport Southland Bowling League after the 2022–23 season.

Paw Paw High School is a public secondary school in Antwerp Township, Michigan, United States. It serves grades 9-12 for Paw Paw Public Schools.

Sports teams named Redskins are part of the larger controversy regarding the use of Native American names, images and symbols by non-native sports teams. Teams of this name have received particular public attention because the term redskin is now generally regarded as disparaging and offensive.

The use of terms and images referring to Native Americans/First Nations as the name or mascot for a sports team is a topic of public controversy in the United States and in Canada, arising as part of the Native American/First Nations civil rights movements. The retirement of the Washington Redskins and the Cleveland Indians has tipped public opinion in favor of eliminating Native mascots by public school, more states considering or passing legislation to do so, heeding tribal leaders who have advocating for change for decades.

Paw Paw Public Schools (PPPS) is a school district headquartered in Paw Paw, Michigan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wilmington High School (Delaware)</span> Public high school in Wilmington, Delaware

Wilmington High School was a public high school in Wilmington, Delaware.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Search for Public Schools - Conrad Schools of Science (100130000270)". National Center for Education Statistics . Institute of Education Sciences . Retrieved September 1, 2024.
  2. ↑ "Home". Conrad Schools of Science. Retrieved 2021-02-14. 201 Jackson Avenue, Wilmington, DE 19804 - The school is not in the Wilmington city limits, as seen in a comparison with the zoning map as of February 2021. See the map of Greenville CDP from the 2010 U.S. Census.
  3. 1 2 Miller, Andréa; Prado, Antonio (2008-08-21). "Conrad High School, the jewel of Woodcrest" . Retrieved 2021-07-09.
  4. 1 2 "School Profile". Conrad Schools of Science. 2020. Archived from the original on 2021-07-09. Retrieved 2021-07-09.
  5. ↑ "Red Clay schools". Red Clay Consolidated School District. n.d. Archived from the original on 2021-06-27. Retrieved 2021-07-09.
  6. ↑ Stevens, Chris (2016-05-10). "Conrad clinches Diamond State Championship". Delaware Online. Retrieved 2021-07-09.
  7. ↑ Brad Myers (March 20, 2015). "Conrad considers dropping Redskins nickname". Delaware Online: The News Journal.
  8. ↑ "Retire the mascot document" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-23. Retrieved March 23, 2015.
  9. ↑ WPVI (2015-04-15). "Long-standing mascot at Wilmington school sparks controversy". 6abc Philadelphia. Retrieved 2022-02-03.
  10. ↑ Bies, Jessica. "Conrad Redskins now the Red Wolves". The News Journal. Retrieved 2022-02-03.
  11. ↑ "Red Wolves was the solution for another team with Washington's name problem". RSN. Retrieved 2022-02-03.
  12. ↑ Saranac Hale Spencer (June 16, 2016). "Conrad Schools of Science sheds Redskins name".
  13. ↑ "Conrad Students Pick Red Wolves as New Mascot". Red Clay Consolidated School District. 2017. Archived from the original on 2021-07-09. Retrieved 2021-07-09.
  14. ↑ alumni, conrad. "ALUMNI ASSOCIATION MEETINGS ARE HELD THE THIRD MONDAY OF EACH MONTH". H.C.Conrad Alumni Association Inc. Retrieved 2022-02-03.
  15. ↑ Twitter https://twitter.com/savrcnrdredskin . Retrieved 2022-02-03.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.