By Benjamin Rothstein

DOVER — Capital School District shared much to celebrate at its second annual ‘State of Our Schools’ event Wednesday evening.

At the top of the list was the announcement that Dover High School’s graduation rate of 90.61% has risen above the state average, of 88.9% per the Department of Education.

“Humbly, I want to extend a heartfelt congratulations to all of our students, our staff, and parents and community for the great things that happened this year,” said Dr. Vilicia Cade, superintendent of Capital School District.

Four Capital School District schools have been recognized with ‘Leader in Me Lighthouse School’ status: William Henry Middle School, Booker T. Washington Elementary, Hartly Elementary, and Towne Point Elementary School. According to Leader in Me, Lighthouse Schools excel in three areas: teaching leadership principles, creating a leadership culture and aligning academic systems.

Chief Information Officer Benjamin Wells also announced the adoption of district core values which they say will guide their decision-making process and establish culture. These include Senator Pride, which represents a feeling of community, equity and inclusiveness, collaboration, effective communication, integrity & respect, and continuous improvement.

Mr. Wells also noted that the Dover Middle School Campus’ construction was completed on time and under budget, renovation plans at Central Elementary School are being put together, and the implementation of various data tools to help better meet the needs of students.

One special mention was the Talking Points multilingual bidirectional system, which has sent over 1 million messages to parents in over 20 languages since it launched this year.

“As we began this journey under Dr. Cade’s leadership, it was essential that we correctly engage with our staff, students, and parents with the community. As we reached out to these groups, we had multiple community stakeholder meetings,” said Mr. Wells on the district’s progress. “But the most valuable asset that any of us have is time. And I want to express our deep gratitude for each person, as they’ve dedicated their time, energy and passion to these pivotal efforts.”

Mr. Wells also discussed the district’s focus shifting to staff retention, the logic being that a fulfilled staff will attract new workers to the district.

To give a respite from the announcements and several community awards, the event featured performances from both the Dover High School band and the North Dover Elementary School chorus.