History of the District
Caesar Rodney, one of Delaware's most recognizable figures was born near Dover in 1728 and died in Dover in 1784.
Rodney had the distinction of being sheriff of Kent county and the speaker of the Delaware delegation against the unfair actions of the King in 1769.
Rodney had 80 miles to ride and only a half a day to complete a journey which normally took 30 hours. He arrived just as the voting session was about to begin. When the vote from Delaware was asked for, Read voted nay, McKean voted aye, and Rodney, still in his riding clothes and wearing spurs, rose and said: "As I believe the voice of my constituents and of all sensible and honest men is in favor of independence, my judgement concurs with them; I vote for independence."
Caesar Rodney became the General in charge of the Delaware forces until 1778 when he was elected the first President of Delaware. After his term, he was elected as a state legislator and served for two years, until his death from the cancer in 1784 at the age of 56. Caesar Rodney was buried on his farm near Dover. In 1934 Caesar Rodney was chosen to represent Delaware in Statuary Hall in Washington, D.C.
In an era of social justice, we recognize that the legacy of key figures throughout our country’s history can be complicated. Our namesake is no different. We embrace the significant contributions to the formation of our great nation that Caesar Rodney is famous for, while simultaneously acknowledging his participation in the morally reprehensible institution of slavery. Our intent is to celebrate those contributions that significantly led to the formation of the United States of America, and to provide a more comprehensive representation of our namesake, thus providing a platform that does not marginalize the experiences or perceptions of anyone. This decision is one that we know will not make everyone happy, but we also know it is fair to everyone!
CR Through the Years
1915-1940s
The district officially came into existence as State Consolidated District No. 1 on July 1, 1915 under the authority of a state consolidation law. Shortly thereafter, residents of the area voted 52 to 1 to approve a $12,000 bond to supplement an $18,000 appropriation from the state for the construction of a new school building for grades one through twelve.
Not long after, the school board adopted the name Caesar Rodney for the district and school in honor of the Revolutionary War hero and statesman who had made his home near St. Jones Neck in the eastern part of the county. Three years later the state legislature passed another consolidation law in an effort to eliminate many of the one-room schoolhouses that dotted the state.
On July 1, 1919 the Caesar Rodney Consolidated School District was joined with six smaller surrounding districts to form the Caesar Rodney Special School District, one of 13 "larger and more responsible" districts in the state that were "endowed with the authority to own and administer buildings, grounds and equipment; to conduct all grades; to provide free textbooks and supplies; to elect a superintendent and a principal, to demand certification of teachers; and to levy taxes with the vote of the people."
As a result of that law, the district hired its first superintendent, Gilbert Nickel, who led a staff of 17 teachers. Nickel would serve in that capacity until July of 1923 when Wilbur H. Jump became the district's second superintendent, a position he would hold for the next 15 years. Also, the remaining "one-room school house districts" in the state were established as school attendance districts under the direct supervision of the state board of education.
During the years 1919 to 1969, 12 more of the surrounding attendance districts were absorbed into the Caesar Rodney Special School District (the Comegys District which actually contained the lands of Caesar Rodney's home near St. Jones Neck did not join until 1937).
Finally, in 1969 the state legislature, in an effort to eliminate the last of the one room school districts in the state, consolidated all remaining districts into twenty-three reorganized school districts. The Caesar Rodney Special School District became the Caesar Rodney School District at that time, assuming its present boundaries with the addition of the Magnolia and Oak Point districts, and encompassing what had been thirty-seven separate one-room school districts at one point.
When the Caesar Rodney School District came into existence in 1915, students attended school in a variety of old frame buildings that had been used by the former Camden and Wyoming districts. With the $30,000 from the new district’s first referendum and state appropriation, the original Caesar Rodney School was built, a twelve room, three story, red brick structure on six acres of land at the corner of Camden-Wyoming Avenue and Caesar Rodney Avenue [on the present athletic fields of Fifer Middle School]. The new school, serving 99 students in grades 1-12, opened for school in 1916.
With the 1919 consolidation the district enrollment swelled to 564 students and a second building was brought into the district. However, this building, the Star Hill School, would remain a segregated school serving the district’s African American students in grades one through eight until 1965.
In 1926, the aging frame Star Hill School was replaced by a new two room brick structure and an identical building was constructed in Wyoming. This new school, originally named the Wyoming Colored School (and renamed the Paul Lawrence Dunbar School in 1940), became a second segregated school for the district’s African American students. This building is now the "original" portion of the current District Office.
In 1929, in order to accommodate continued growth, the district completed additions to the Caesar Rodney School building, including a new gymnasium and additional classrooms.
By 1930, enrollment had climbed to 796 students which prompted the Board to construct a new eight classroom wing to the Caesar Rodney School in 1934 and a new auditorium, locker rooms, shops, a new office area and ten additional classrooms in 1940.
In 1938 Wilbur H. Jump retired as the district’s superintendent and William Simpson, the principal of the Caesar Rodney School, was promoted to superintendent, supervising a staff that by 1940 had grown to 30 teachers.
At this time, the district’s African American students were only being afforded an education in the district through grade eight. In 1939 the Dover Special School District opened the Booker T. Washington School, which also included ninth grade and accepted interested Caesar Rodney minority students. Those African American students wishing to continue their education beyond ninth grade at that time had to enroll in the Secondary School Department of Delaware State College, a situation that would continue until 1953 when the William W. Henry Comprehensive High School opened in Dover for minority students from throughout Kent County.
Despite the Supreme Court’s 1954 ruling in the landmark Brown vs. Board of Education case, which found "separate but equal" schooling unconstitutional, no efforts to desegregate the district schools took place throughout the decade of the 50’s. The only changes involving minority students that did occur were the addition of three more classrooms at Star Hill and the closing of the Dunbar School in 1957, thus consolidating all African American students at one location in the district.
1950-1980s
By 1950 enrollment in the district had climbed to 1,035 students, which resulted in another addition to the Caesar Rodney School. A tier of three classrooms at the eastern end of the school completed the facade of what many area residents remember as the "old" section of the former CR Junior High School building.
The decade of the 50's was a time of dramatic growth for the district, jumping 238% from the 1950 total of 1,035 to 3,496 in 1960. To accommodate this growth, the district opened a new elementary wing containing eight classrooms on the western side of the Caesar Rodney School in 1952, as well as a new gymnasium.
By 1955, a second elementary classroom wing was added that included a separate elementary office and library. In 1956, a new auto mechanics and home economics wing was added in the rear for the high school students. In 1958, the district opened two more elementary classroom wings on the western side of the complex, as well as a new cafeteria in the rear, completing what was to become the first Nellie Hughes Stokes Elementary School building.
At the same time, the Air Force began expanding what had been a relatively small Dover Air Force Base into a much larger transport center, with a resulting increase in personnel and their families and, for the district, a sharp increase in base students.
In 1958, DAFB set up several metal buildings as classrooms, which were staffed by Caesar Rodney teachers. By 1960 the number of students served in these facilities had grown to 852, nearly the size of the entire district only ten years earlier.
As a result, the district entered into negotiations with the Federal government for the construction of permanent buildings as well as the money to operate them. The first of those was Dover Air Force Base School, which opened in 1961 and served students in grades one through twelve.
That project was followed by the addition of six classrooms for the opening of school in 1962 and the construction of Dover Air Force Base Elementary School (the current Welch Elementary School) for the beginning of school in 1964.
One year later, a second, although smaller, elementary school was opened on base and the two schools were creatively named Dover Air Force Base Elementary School No. 1 and Dover Air Force Base Elementary School No. 2, with their names subsequently being changed to their current Major George S. Welch and General Henry Arnold Elementary Schools, respectively.
Although many of these projects had been started under the leadership of superintendent Simpson, he retired in 1961 after 23 years at the helm, passing the building projects and the leadership reins to Dr. F. Niel Postlethwait, who became the district's fourth superintendent.
The first was the opening of the W.B. Simpson Elementary School in Camden in 1962, followed by the Allen Frear Elementary School in Rising Sun for the 1963 school year.
Also in 1963, the district opened the Kent County School for Trainables next to the Allen Frear School in Rising Sun, a school operated by the district but serving severely disabled students from around the county.
And lastly, in 1963, district office staff moved from a house adjacent to the Caesar Rodney School on Camden-Wyoming Avenue to the former Dunbar School building on Old North Road.
In 1965, as a result of increasing pressure, the district's African American students at Star Hill were permitted to attend the elementary schools closest to their homes when school opened in the fall. Star Hill became a desegregated district elementary school and African American junior and senior high school students entered the Caesar Rodney School for the first time.
As a result of the increased secondary population at this time, the parking lot of the Caesar Rodney School was filled with temporary buildings and some students attended classes down the street in the fire hall.
In the fall of 1967 the new Caesar Rodney High School was opened on Old North Road, leaving the original Caesar Rodney School building to serve as Caesar Rodney Junior High.
To accommodate the continually growing high school population a third wing was added to the new high school for the opening of school in 1968. At the same time the now decrepit 1916 original red brick Caesar Rodney School was razed and replaced by a new three story classroom wing for the junior high.
Also in 1967, Dr. Postlethwait left the district to become Deputy State Superintendent. His replacement was Warren H. White, who would remain as superintendent until 1971. Upon his resignation, Dr. Postlethwait returned and continued to lead the district until his retirement in 1989. Dr. Postlethwait had provided a combined 24 years of leadership to the district over the course of his career.
In 1968, the Magnolia School became part of the Caesar Rodney School District. The original school had been built in 1914 on Main Street in Magnolia.
One of the teacher/principals there was a gentleman by the name of J. Ralph McIlvaine who began his career in 1915. After two years, he left for France during World War I and would return to the Magnolia School as its principal. Mr. McIlvaine would then go on to serve as the Magnolia School principal for the next 45 years, retiring in 1964.
In 1935, the original structure on Main Street was replaced with a newly constructed Magnolia School now located on East Walnut Street, housing 7-9 grades within its four classrooms and gym.
In 1964, the school officially became part of the Caesar Rodney School District. That same year, Mr. McIlvaine retired after serving 47 years as an educator and administrator.
In 1970, the school was named in honor of J. Ralph McIlvaine, who had served as teacher and principal at the Magnolia School for 47 years.
The decade of the 70's saw an overall decline in enrollment, down to 6,858 students by 1980. However, although the elementary enrollment peaked in 1970 and then declined steadily thereafter, the secondary schools would not peak until the late 70's. Despite the decline in enrollment the district opened it's newest elementary, W. Reily Brown, in the fall of 1970 to deal with the tail end of the elementary enrollment bubble.
During the 80's, the enrollment of the district continued to decline slightly, dropping to 6,312 students by 1990. Decreasing enrollments at Dover Air Force Base High School made it difficult to offer all of the programs that were available to students at the larger Caesar Rodney High School.
As a result, base sophomores, juniors and seniors were transferred to Caesar Rodney High School for the opening of school in 1980 and Dover Air Force Base High School ceased to exist. At that point the former junior-senior high school building was used to serve only grades 7-9. Several years later, the 9th graders also moved to CRHS and the 6th graders from Welch Elementary joined the 7th and 8th graders in the newly reorganized Dover Air Force Base Middle School.
As the 80's drew to a close, Dr. Postlethwait announced his retirement as superintendent. In1989, the district hired Dr. William J. Bach to lead the district into the 1990's.
1990-2000s
The final decade of the 20th century saw a reversal in the downward enrollment trend of the previous 20 years, with the district reporting a total enrollment of 6,737 students during the 2000 school year.
Although this was an increase of less than seven percent, the district was forced to pursue the construction of several new buildings, not because of space but because the oldest buildings were no longer able to be maintained at a standard comparable to the newer buildings of the district.
The original four wings of the Nellie Hughes Stokes Elementary School developed increasing numbers of roof leaks, structural problems, and heating problems that the maintenance staff could not stay ahead of. As a result, the district constructed a new Nellie Hughes Stokes Elementary School south of Camden, which was ready for the opening of school in 1997.
Shortly thereafter the district began construction of two new middle schools to replace the deteriorating Caesar Rodney Junior High School building. Fred Fifer III Middle School in Camden and F. Niel Postlethwait Middle School in Rising Sun were completed just in time for the opening of school in 1999. At that time the sixth grade classes from the district elementary schools joined the seventh and eighth graders from the former junior high in filling these new buildings.
The Caesar Rodney Junior High School building, including all of the additions to the original Caesar Rodney School and the first Nellie Hughes Stokes Elementary School wings, were leveled during the summer of 1999 to make way for new athletic fields for Fifer Middle School.
In 1998, Dr. Bach retired and Dr. David E. Robinson was promoted from the high school principalship to lead the district into the new millennium as its eighth superintendent. With the completion of the new middle schools he focused the district's attention on the aging Star Hill Elementary School building and the increasingly overcrowded and worn Caesar Rodney High School. In the fall of 2000 district residents approved a referendum to renovate and expand both of these facilities.
Both projects began in the summer of 2001 with the Star Hill students and staff leaving their school during its renovation and taking up temporary residence as “guests” of Dover Air Force Base Middle School and Major George Welch Elementary School.
The Star Hill renovation was completed in 2003 with the students and staff able to return home to a state-of-the-art facility.
The massive $32 million high school project would continue until September 2005, with the expansion and renovation completed in five separate phases.
Also, back in 2000, the district began lobbying the state for money to renovate and expand the aging and overcrowded John. S. Charlton School. The project was eventually funded 100 percent with state funds; the renovations began in the summer of 2003. During the school’s reconstruction, Charlton students and staff also moved on base, occupying the General Henry “Hap” Arnold Elementary School. With declining base enrollments, the district had vacated Arnold Elementary and consolidated all base elementary students at Welch Elementary for the start of the 2003 school year.
Also in 2003, the Delaware Department of Education began rating every school and district in the state using a complex formula that considered student performance on the state tests and other data. In that first School Accountability Rating, the Caesar Rodney School District was one of only a few districts in the state to receive a “Superior” rating.
As the 2004 school year ended, so did the career of Dr. Robinson who retired after 35 years with the district. He was the second superintendent, after William Simpson, to rise through the ranks from teacher to superintendent.
To carry on the leadership of the district, the Board selected Dr. Harold E. Roberts as the district’s ninth superintendent. Dr. Roberts would be the third superintendent to also rise through the ranks and the first to have spent his entire career with the Caesar Rodney School District.
One year later, in 2005, the high school project was finally completed, making Caesar Rodney High School the preeminent high school in the state...again. In 2006, the Charlton School renovation and expansion was completed, with that facility now bridging across to Allen Frear Elementary and sharing common spaces such as the cafeteria and library.
The new Charlton School provided a state-of-the-art facility for Kent County’s most severely disabled youth. With the Charlton students and staff moved back into their school, the Caesar Rodney School District abandoned the General Henry Arnold School, which was then assumed by Dover Air Force Base as a training facility.
Also, in 2006, the Caesar Rodney School District achieved the singular distinction of not only being superior but having every school in the district rated “Superior,” the first and only district in the state to ever achieve that accomplishment under the state’s accountability system.
As the 2007 school year came to an end, the long Caesar Rodney career and short superintendency of Dr. Roberts came to a premature end when he was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).
The Board chose Dr. Kevin R. Fitzgerald, then serving as principal at Caesar Rodney High School, to take over as the district’s tenth superintendent.
During Dr. Fitzgerald’s tenure as superintendent, the district has undergone a physical transformation as well as expanded academic opportunities for its students.
Four elementary schools have been renovated: McIlvaine, Brown, Simpson and Frear. For the first time, all-day kindergarten was implemented across the district. The World Language Program at CRHS was expanded to include Chinese, Arabic and Italian. A Chinese Immersion Program for kindergarten students had now been expanded to the elementary levels as has a Spanish Immersion Program. The English Language Learners program has been expanded at Stokes while distance learning opportunities between the high school and middle schools have been implemented.
As the district entered a new decade, four elementary schools were recognized as National Blue Ribbon Schools: Nellie Stokes in 2011; Star Hill in 2012; Allen Frear in 2013; and W.B. Simpson in 2015.
"Caesar Rodney School District has grown to one of America's premiere public school districts, serving nearly 7,000 students whose families are spread over more than 140 square miles and whose buildings are among the finest school facilities in the state."
In 2015, exactly 100 years after the Camden-Wyoming community passed their referendum consolidating their schools into the Caesar Rodney School District, the Caesar Rodney community passed an operating and capital expense referendum with 62 percent voting in favor of the referendum.
The success of the 2015 referendum will create additional classroom space at both McIlvaine and the high school as well; a 9th grade academy; the connection of C and D wings at CRHS; and new athletic fields.
The Caesar Rodney School District will also see the building of a state-of-the-art elementary school in Magnolia.
The Department of Defense will also plan and build a new elementary/middle school on Dover Air Force Base.
From the joining of several one room schoolhouse districts in 1915 that were housed in several aging frame structures and served a mere handful of students the Caesar Rodney School District has grown to one of America's premiere public school districts, serving nearly 7,000 students whose families are spread over more than 140 square miles and whose buildings are among the finest school facilities in the state. The Caesar Rodney School District takes pride in its long history of service to its community and is committed to continuing its record of service, accomplishment and improvement in the years to come.