Get to Know The Latin American Community Center
The Latin American Community Center (LACC), known among friends as El Centro Latino, opened in the Hilltop of Wilmington in 1969. The center focuses in two strategic areas: Lifelong Learning, which concentrates on the education needs of their client families, from high quality pre-school through adult education; and Life Empowerment, which targets the immediate needs that individuals and families may be facing, such as job placement, learning English, or purchasing a home.
A pillar of the LACC program is a summer experience for kids of all ages that includes athletic activities, math and language themed trips to various museums and theme parks, and academic tutoring. This summer, through a strategic partnership with Barclays Bank, four Teach For America - Delaware corps members will supplement the LACC’s summer programming with a leadership through literacy initiative. Through this opportunity to more deeply engage with students outside of the classroom, they aim to empower LACC students to lead the change they would like to see in their community.
The Latin American Community Center is committed to re-energizing early childhood education and to influencing students’ success every step of the way by providing the tools they need to thrive. This summer we are excited to be taking our partnership with the LACC one step further.
Region Timeline
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Belton v. Gebhart is filed in the Delaware Court of Chancery. Despite the fact that a beautiful and spacious high school exists in Claymont, African American students are forced to take the bus to the run-down Howard High School in Wilmington, the only public high school for African Americans in the state.
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Belton v. Gebhart is heard in the U.S. Supreme Court as a part of the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case, which prohibits legally segregated schools.
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Delaware passes the Education Advancement Act, consolidating school districts and equalizing funding for poorer districts. Wilmington High School hires its first black principal.
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Wilmington’s schools are 90% African American. To achieve racial balance, the federal district court orders the city school district to combine with ten surrounding suburban districts in New Castle County and authorizes busing students across city boundaries. With more than 60,000 students, the new district becomes one of the largest in the country.
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The “mega-district” formed in 1978 is divided into four new districts.
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The desegregation order is officially lifted, and in 2000 the Neighborhood Schools Act is passed, essentially re-segregating the region’s schools. Many Delaware students are still bused to schools outside of their neighborhoods today.
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The first charter schools in Delaware open their doors, giving parents the option of removing their children from underperforming schools.
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The Rodel Foundation of Delaware organizes Vision 2015, a coalition of business, government, and education leaders whose mission is “to provide an excellent education for all of Delaware’s children—no exceptions, no excuses.”
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Delaware is the first state to receive a Race to the Top grant of $119 million in addition to an Early Learning Challenge grant of nearly $50 million. The computer-based Delaware Comprehensive Assessment System (DCAS) is utilized for the first time, centered on the Common Core Standards and replacing the previously used state testing program.
Overheard
