CAMDEN — The Caesar Rodney School District Board of Education announced Friday that Dr. Christine Alois has been selected as the first woman and 11th superintendent for the district. Currently the deputy secretary for the Delaware Department of Education, Dr. Alois will take over as superintendent on April 1.

“Dr. Alois was clearly the best candidate for the next superintendent of the Caesar Rodney School District. Her experience in previous positions from the classroom to administration, and her state-level involvement in the educational process show she has the temperament and the drive to lead,” said school board president Mike Marasco.

“The board and I are excited to see where Christine takes the district in the coming years.”

Before taking the position of deputy secretary for the DDOE in 2018, Dr. Alois served in various roles in the Caesar Rodney School District for 24 years.

Upon moving to Delaware in July 1994, she became one of the original “latch key” teachers for the district. She then moved to the classroom as a teacher in both fifth and seventh grades. After serving for several years as the English language arts resource teacher working with teachers and administrators across the district, she became the assistant principal at Stokes Elementary School and then the principal.

Starting in 2009, Dr. Alois served as the supervisor of instruction, where she worked with students, teachers, administrators and families across all of the schools in the district with a focus on secondary social studies and English language arts, world language/immersion K-12, English language learners, gifted education, instructional technology, teacher leaders and new teacher mentoring.

In 2015, she moved to her final position before leaving the district. Serving as the director of curriculum & instruction, Dr. Alois oversaw all activities for PK-12 classrooms and student learners. As director, she championed efforts to include outdoor education initiatives across all grade levels and school sites.

“Caesar Rodney is my home. My son graduated from the district. I spent 24 years in its classrooms and administrative offices, and I am honored to now have the opportunity to lead the district,” Dr. Alois said.

“CR has a talented and passionate staff, adults who come to work each day excited to meet students’ academic as well as social, emotional and behavioral health needs. I can’t wait to rejoin this team, and work together to support our students, families and Rider community.”

Delaware Secretary of Education Mark Holodick thanked Dr. Alois for her leadership at the DDOE, praising her for helping former Secretary of Education Susan Bunting transform the department into a support-focused agency.

“She brought to the state her firsthand experience in a district office to better understand the impact of state policies at the local level, using her knowledge to help the state improve its collaboration with districts and charter schools,” he said. “Over the past two years, Christine has been the department’s lead on the pandemic response. That work ranged from working closely with Division of Public Health colleagues to develop COVID-19 guidance for schools to help us safely reopen buildings to organizing and personally staffing educator vaccination events across the state. Christine is a leader who always thinks first about how decisions will affect students, families and educators."

Dr. Alois received her undergraduate degree from Penn State University in elementary education, her master's from Wesley College in middle childhood education and her doctorate from the University of Delaware in educational leadership.