Sussex Academy celebrates additions, national award

A new middle school wing.

A brand-new pool.

The very first high school graduates.

This year has seen a lot of firsts for Sussex Academy, with enrollment doubling in the last 16 years and recent recognition as a National Blue Ribbon School.

Sussex County's sole charter school now boasts nearly 700 students with the addition of high school classes and a move to a larger school. A new 30,000-square-foot middle school wing is already bustling with students, while others patiently await the opening of a state-of-the-art pool and aquatics center.

“I think it's very important that middle schoolers have their space and high schoolers have their space because the programs are a little different,” explained Sussex Academy Director Patricia Oliphant. “Goal-wise, they're marching to the same mission, but how we structure and what we do in those spaces organizationally is different.”

Oliphant pointed to high school students' rigorous involvement in block schedules and an International Baccalaureate program, a program that is similar to AP programs at other area high schools. About 5,000 schools internationally participate in the IB program, which also provides an opportunity for students to earn a special International Baccalaureate diploma.

U.S. Sen. Tom Carper, D-Delaware, swung by Sussex Academy on Airport Road in Georgetown Nov. 4 to celebrate and learn more about the school's recent academic accomplishments, check out the new wing and meet another, slightly younger Tom Carper, a sixth-grade academy student who greeted the politician at the door.

Both Carpers meandered through the new halls, classrooms and labs, greeting dozens of students working on civic projects. Cut-outs of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton (mostly Trump, though) littered the floors as students put the final touches on their masterpieces as part of a school-wide effort to educate students about politics and Election Day.

“I think this school has flourished because we have teachers who are willing to go above and beyond the norm,” Oliphant said. “They rise to the occasion, and they help the kids rise to whatever expectations we ask them to meet.”

Carper applauded the students, teachers and staff for their Blue Ribbon award, which was given to five Delaware schools in 2016 for high performance. Sussex Academy accepted the award in Washington, D.C. Nov. 8.

“There are tens of thousands of schools across the nation, and only about 300 have earned this award,” Carper said. “I just want to tell you how proud I am of you, the folks who came up with the idea of this school, the folks who nurtured that idea and the legislators who supported the funding needed.”

This year, 38 students will receive diplomas as Sussex Academy's first graduating class. A fraction of those students has already applied to colleges across the country, including New York University, University of Pittsburgh and the University of Delaware, and many are on their way to receiving International Baccalaureate diplomas.

Sussex Academy has also expanded its sports curriculum and hired Steve Bastianelli as athletic director at the beginning of the school year.

Bastianelli said by the end of the year, the school will have expanded its sports programs to include all main sports except football and wrestling. Two new turf fields are fully lighted and will have bleachers and scoreboards by spring, he said.

He also boasted about the much-anticipated eight-lane pool donated by Schell Brothers that will feature an upper deck and bleachers for fans.

“I can't imagine there's any other pool in the state that would come close, except for possibly the University of Delaware,” he said. The pool is expected to open in early December, he said.

For more about Sussex Academy, go to sussexacademy.org.