Welcome To The
Wilmington
Learning
Collaborative

Learn More

The WLC is an educational nonprofit committed to creating positive change across schools in Wilmington, Delaware. 

Spanning nine city schools and serving students from Pre-K through eighth grade within the Brandywine, Red Clay, and Christina school districts, our focus is to improve the overall educational landscape in Wilmington. 

Our primary objective is to establish a rigorous and engaging learning experience for Wilmington students, in collaboration with our families, educators, and school leaders. Through our community-focused efforts, we aim to enhance overall student outcomes within the city of Wilmington schools.

OUR 3 BIG SHIFTS

1. Students First

The WLC is focused on establishing a culture of learning centered on a shared belief that all children can achieve. We will continuously develop and invest in all adults serving the children in WLC schools, and will additionally develop success goals for all students, supported by a culturally relevant learning environment that affirms the whole child.

2. Connected Schools

The WLC aims to build connections and strengthen communication across schools, through shared resourcing and responsibility. This includes cultivating cross-school collaboration—through equitable access to learning opportunities that strengthen skills and experience—and authentically engaging with the broader Wilmington community, removing existing barriers, to sustain the work of the WLC.

3. Purposeful Partnerships

The WLC will develop partnerships that build capacity, ensuring consistent resources, access to personnel, and information across all WLC schools. We seek to deliver a community-led partnership readiness and evaluation system and launch a citywide strategy to attract continued capacity and funding support ensuring the sustainability of the WLC.

Upcoming Events

We are delighted for you to participate in the work of our community. The WLC welcomes you to explore our full calendar to learn about meetings, important events, and opportunities to be part of our journey!

Events Search and Views Navigation

Event Views Navigation

Today

Latest Past Events

ELT Network Convening

We invite all recent and new Educator Leader Team (ELT) members from our across our 9 WLC schools to join us on Wednesday, July 31 at the Hyatt Place Wilmington Riverfront. Together, we will gather for a day of collaboration, capacity building, and visioning for the year ahead.

Picnic in the Park

The school year may have ended, but the WLC’s commitment to keeping our communities informed continues. As summer kicks off, we’d like to spread the word about Picnic in the...

Wilmington Learning Collaborative (WLC) Council Meeting

Bayard School 200 S Dupont St, Wilmington

The Wilmington Learning Collaborative (WLC) is a voluntary network of schools in Wilmington across multiple school districts (Brandywine, Christina, Red Clay). The WLC's goal is to improve outcomes for students...

ONGOING WORK

Learn more about how we’re partnering with school districts to transform academic outcomes in the city of Wilmington. Discover the WLC’s initiatives, partnerships, and projects here!

History of the WLC

In the early months of 2022, the Delaware Department of Education, in collaboration with Governor John Carney, initiated a groundbreaking joint project focused on shifting the educational landscape in Wilmington.

Today, our nine schools, networked across our Red Clay, Brandywine, and Christina school districts, have become the center point of a strategic effort with a clear objective: empower students, families, and educators by providing them a voice in policy-making.

The Wilmington Learning Collaborative (WLC) represents a carefully crafted agreement that stems from Governor Carney and his team’s extensive engagement with Wilmington’s families, educators, students, and community members. This initiative signifies a big step towards fostering an inclusive and outcomes-focused educational environment for our city’s students.

INSIGHTS

Gain insights into the positive changes our community is making together! Explore this statistical dashboard to see our collaborative efforts at the WLC.

Number of students served

Number of Districts

A Message from the Executive Director

It is with great humility that I navigate this journey as the inaugural executive director of the Wilmington Learning Collaborative. I see the work of the Collaborative as an enduring exercise in the codesign of solutions, the reimagining of systems to support teaching and learning innovation, and the tireless pursuit of educational justice. 

From our WLC leadership team to the networked educator teams and councils across our school communities, we are leading change through investing in people. 

We know that our families and community-based organizations play an essential role in actualizing our collective mission, serving as true collaborators and accountability partners.

We are unapologetic in shifting the narrative around our communities and relentless in our interrogation of systems that pose barriers to success. 

We distinguish between symptoms and root causes, knowing that performative efforts do not yield sustainable change. 

We believe that current student outcomes are not an indictment of our children, but indicative of the systemic failure of our education, health, housing, and judicial systems. 

We understand that these failures are not recent, but historic and deeply embedded. Therefore, solutions must be cross-sector, outcomes-focused, and underscored by school-level autonomy and authority.

As the leader of this monumental charge, I am well aware that we have just one opportunity to redefine educational excellence for city of Wilmington schools and that success will require an unwavering commitment to change. 

And so, when I am repeatedly told that our children “can’t”, I will always respond by saying…

“They can, if we will.”

#WilmingtonWill

In relentless pursuit,

In relentless pursuit,

Dr. Laura Burgos

Ready to join a community passionate about driving positive change in Wilmington schools?

The WLC is now looking for collaborators to join our ongoing efforts. Sign up for our email list to stay connected and learn how you can get involved!

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