Delaware
New child care center coming to Wilmington in 2026: Education roundup
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Delaware high school basketball coaches let you in on a little secret: How they come up with names for their plays.
As the winter holidays fade to memory, most Delaware schools should be heating back up.
In the Wilmington area, two Catholic schools – Archmere and Nativity Prep – have announced new leadership at their highest ranks. And in the same city this spring, the YMCA of Delaware is slated to bring its new Early Learning Academy on the East Side.
Also just ahead of the new year, Delaware Community Foundation announced open applications for some 82 scholarships. Last year, that meant more than $850,000 in aid for Delaware students.
In this weekly roundup, we’ll catch you up on these and other education stories you may have missed.
(Did we miss another good education story? Let me know: kepowers@gannett.com)
Wilmington will soon see a new YMCA Early Learning Academy
YMCA of Delaware is looking to inject more affordable child care into Delaware’s largest city.
As previously reported, the Community Education Building – or a Wilmington high-rise packed with four schools, seven nonprofits, some 1,500 students and family services – is bringing its new, 11,000-square-foot Youth Development Center next door, on Wilmington’s East Side. And thanks to this partnership, it will now include a YMCA Early Learning Academy.
Launching this spring, the academy will gear up to serve up to 100 children, according to a press release, from infancy through pre-K. Enrollment begins Jan. 5, according to the YMCA.
The academy will “focus on nurturing academic readiness, social-emotional development, and lifelong confidence during the most critical years of child development,” according to the nonprofit. All said, the goal is to ensure each child gets “a strong start.”
The overall youth center came together with well over $20 million in funding, fueling aims for athletic facilities, spaces for workforce development programs, an early learning center and more near the 1200 block of Wilson St.
“This project is about opportunity – creating a space where families feel supported and every child has the chance to succeed,” said Jarrett Royster, CEO of the YMCA of Delaware, in a statement.
ICYMI: New scholarships for Delaware students available
The Delaware Community Foundation has opened applications for its 2026–2027 scholarships.
From Dec. 15, 2025, to March 15, 2026, students can apply for 82 scholarships covering a wide variety of majors, backgrounds, and financial needs. For the first time, according to the foundation, that also includes funding for students pursuing trade programs. The aid is fueled by community donors.
Awards range from a single $500 payment – to one-time awards of $20,000 or four-year scholarships of $10,000 a year.
Just last year, the foundation said it awarded some $851,500 to 245 Delaware students, a 30% increase from the year before. This year they’re right back at it.
Interested students and families should check out the 2026-2027 Scholarship Compendium online.
Archmere Academy announces new head of school
Just before the holiday season hit full swing, Archmere Academy announced a new head of school to lead the historic, Catholic prep school’s next chapter.
That will be Daniel Hickey of Archmere’s own class of 1989.
Hickey will have hefty shoes to fill. According to this Dec. 16 appointment announcement, Michael Marinelli has led the Claymont institution for the last 15 years. Marinelli is looking to retire, as he told his board of trustees about two years ago, after a long stint strengthening enrollment, enhancing campus and steering a school through pandemic shutdown.
Now, after an “extensive national and international search,” the board has approved Hickey to step up, effective July 1, 2026. The next head of school already maintains “deep ties” to Archmere, according to the school, alongside experience in leadership and Catholic education.
After graduating, he headed to Dickinson College to major in English and minor in fine arts, while also playing football. English remains his passion subject to teach. Later, he worked in admissions in both Dickinson and American University, where he also earned his master’s degree in literature. He returned to Archmere in 1998 to lead, teach and coach football.
By 2006, he was wrapping up his doctorate degree in educational leadership from the University of Pennsylvania, according to Archmere, and he joined Tower Hill. There, he held various positions of leadership, including head of the Upper School. Since 2017, Hickey has been head of school at Upland Country Day School in Pennsylvania.
As Hickey said in a portion of his first written statement to the Archmere community: “I am extremely excited and deeply committed to leading Archmere into its next chapter – solidifying its reputation as one of the finest independent Catholic schools in the nation, while preserving and renewing the heritage and communion that has meant so much in my own life.”
Wilmington’s Nativity Prep School names new president
The Nativity Preparatory School – a tuition-free, Catholic middle school for boys in the heart of Wilmington – also just named its next leader.
Tony Alleyne will serve as the next president of the school, effective Jan. 5, bringing more more than 20 years of experience in education and leadership to the school in its 23rd year. The board of trustees announced the hire on Dec. 29.
“Dr. Alleyne brings a rare combination of educational excellence, visionary non-profit leadership and deep care for young people,” said Pat Blewett, chair of the board, in the announcement.
Alleyne most recently worked as the founder and executive director of Delaware College Scholars, a nonprofit promoting college access and more. That program has raised more than $10 million, according to Nativity Prep, while managing a $1.2 million organizational budget and other student supports.
Before that post, Alleyne also spent a decade at St. Andrew’s School near Middletown. The educator worked as a history teacher, coach, dorm parent, college counselor and senior admissions administrator – later rising to interim director of admissions. He has also worked in North Carolina, where his teaching career began, as well as a stint in Shanghai.
Here in Delaware, Alleyne has served on several boards, while also earning national and regional honors. The new president brings with him a doctorate in educational leadership from University of Pennsylvania, alongside a mater’s degree from Columbia University’s Klingenstein Center.
“Nativity’s belief in the dignity, brilliance, and potential of young men – especially those from communities like the one I grew up in – aligns perfectly with my own values and life’s work,” Alleyne said in a statement.
Got another education tip? Contact Kelly Powers at kepowers@usatodayco.com.
The U.S. Coast Guard and multiple partner agencies are responding to a barge fire in Delaware Bay on Tuesday after a tug reported that the vessel it was towing had caught fire.
According to the Coast Guard, watchstanders at Sector Delaware Bay received a call at approximately 8:20 a.m. from the tug Douglas J, reporting that the barge under tow was on fire. The barge was reportedly carrying scrap metal.
Authorities are towing the burning barge to a position about two miles off Maurice River Cove, New Jersey, in an effort to move the incident away from the main shipping channel while firefighting operations continue.
The Coast Guard has established a safety zone and issued a Broadcast Notice to Mariners as crews work to contain the fire and reduce potential hazards to vessel traffic in the busy port complex. Multiple fire departments have deployed fireboats to assist with suppression efforts.
No injuries have been reported and the cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Responders from Coast Guard Station Philadelphia, Coast Guard Station Cape May, and Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City have been deployed to assist. Partner agencies on scene include the Wilmington Fire Department, Delaware City Fire Department, Philadelphia Fire Department, New Jersey Office of Emergency Management, and Delaware Emergency Management.
The incident follows another major barge fire in the Delaware Bay region in 2022, when a barge carrying scrap household appliances burned for approximately 26 hours in what officials described as the largest firefighting operation in Delaware state history.
Response operations for the current fire remain ongoing.
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Tuesday, March 10, 2026 9:34AM
MINQUADALE, Del. (WPVI) — The DMV in Wilmington, Delaware is reopening at 8a.m. Tuesday.
This comes after the deadly shooting of State Trooper Matthew “Ty” Snook, 34, in December 2025.
A man walked into the facility and shot and killed Snook.
The DMV said service at the Wilmington location will be by appointment only for now. The Delaware City, Dover, and Georgetown DMV locations will continue to offer walk-in service to customers.
Copyright © 2026 WPVI-TV. All Rights Reserved.
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