We welcome as our speaker, Mr. Ron Russo, former Principal of St Mark's High School and the founding Principal of the Charter School of Wilmington.
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A high energy speaker, Ron will share his thoughts on education reform based on lessons learned during his long tenure at the helm of Delaware schools, including what it would take to have one Wilmington City based school system and restore some of that lost community that causes so many social problems.
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After all, Wilmington is probably the largest city in the country without its own Public high school.
While picking up a degree in Physics, an M.B.A., and a J.D. degree, Ron found himself immersed in Delaware’s secondary schools while becoming an attorney.
His 42 years in education included 18 years as principal of the state’s largest nonpublic school at that time, St. Mark’s High School. In 1995 the Governor, State Superintendent, and a business consortium consisting of the DuPont Company, Bell Atlantic-Delaware, Delmarva Power, Hercules, Zeneca, and Christiana Care supported an education reform effort intended to change the existing public school system. The purpose of the change was to improve the state’s economy. The change mechanism was charter schools and Ron’s task, among other things, was to head up the pilot program for implementing the reform effort.
Nathan Field is a Wilmington native who returned to his hometown after a decade in the Middle East and DC. A history major at UD, and co-founder of the WHS, he hopes to generate renewed civic interest in Wilmington's future through promoting greater understanding of the key issues in the city's history.
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Nathan will be presenting notable findings from his research, and facilitating discussions about significant events in Wilmington historyÂ
