9 minute read
Q & A: Danielle Clark, principal Chadds Ford Elementary School
Through a worldwide pandemic and a local storm, Chadds Ford Elementary School continues to thrive, with a spirit and energy that can best described as magic. Recently, school Principal Danielle Clark sat down with Chadds Ford Life to discuss the school’s perseverance and its commitment to its students, as well as those who inspired her and one celebritystudded dinner party.
Chadds Ford Life: While thousands of students and their parents have learned first-hand about the uniqueness of Chadds Ford Elementary School in recent years, there are thousands more who drive by the school every day and do not know about the magic here that brings out that uniqueness. For those drivers and passengers, describe that magic, how it happens and who plays a part.
Danielle: The magic that happens here begins with our kids. Without them, the energy and enthusiasm we all have as a team would never come to light. It’s the same feeling you get from being in the company of a good family in the sense that everyone belongs. Everyone is happy to be here. Everyone is looking out for each other.
There is a network of support here that reaches from every corner of the school. It starts every morning with our bus drivers and our parents who drop off their children. The social engagement with our kids then extends to our custodial team and our grounds crew and our food service department and continues with our teachers and our staff. When you talk about Chadds Ford Elementary School, you’re talking about a group of individuals who care for these children as if they are their own.
The basis of primary education has become much more attentive to the fine details of a young person’s academic achievement, but also his or her personal development. One of the programs at Chadds Ford Elementary School that has been rolled out in recent years has been Math in Focus.
Math in Focus is our core program to help our students achieve the Pennsylvania Core Standards, but what we really aspire to do here with math education is to develop that core program and help our students acquire the mathematical concepts and skills that will help them apply that knowledge into novel situations and become critical thinkers and problem solvers.
As we know, generations moving forward need to be problem solvers and critical thinkers in order to solve the challenges that are facing our future and to help them be better prepared for the evolving workforce.
Another initiative has been a developmental one -- the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program.
A comprehensive education is about developing the whole child, and here at Chadds Ford Elementary School, that is a part of our vision statement. The program empowers our students to treat everyone with a sense of belonging, respect and dignity. Through that, they learn essential skills to help them be self advocates and champion for others as a bystander. We then take that program and use it to teach core essential traits each month, and through those traits, we are hoping that our students develop their social and emotional skills and apply them to situations and opportunities, so that they can practice in a healthy and positive way.
The Unionville-Chadds Ford School District has recently adopted the Portrait of Graduate Program that spells out what a graduate of the district will look like at the end of his or her experience in the school district. There are five points in the matrix: Be inspired to learn. Build your character. Succeed in life. Take care of yourself. Contribute to society. We’re exploring how we can support our students to embrace those principles as part of their development.
Photo by Richard L. Gaw
Chadds Ford Elementary School Principal Danielle Clark, second from right, with school nurse Melissa Hocking, far right, offi ce manager Jeanine McCloskey, second from left, and school counselor Kara Sowden.
Chadds Ford was one of the towns hit hardest by Hurricane Ida last September. Take the readers of Chadds Ford Life back to that day and how you, your staff, the teachers and the entire school community galvanized in the days and weeks that followed.
We knew the storm was coming, but had no idea what the eventual impact of it would have on the area in its aftermath. The directive from District Superintendent Dr. John Sanville informed us that we needed to get our kids and our staff home safely, and then our bus drivers home safely.
Gratefully, the school sits high on a hill, but the flood waters at our entrance had come over the top of that little bridge and made its way to the traffic light on Route 1. We saw the damage that Hank’s, the post office and the gas station all endured. It was devastating to watch, seeing the livelihood and vitality of our community fall apart before our eyes.
We also saw the strength of our community -- people coming together in that time of challenge. We knew that while so many experienced different levels of hardship, few of the families of our children were seriously affected. Within the U-CF community, there were collections and clothing drives and clean-up along the Brandywine River Valley.
While Hurricane Ida had a major impact, the impact of COVID-19 on elementary school education was huge. Paint a picture of the work that the administration and teachers at Chadds Ford Elementary School did to achieve the mission of education during that time.
It has been the people – those of the Unionville-Chadds Ford School District, our school and the community – who have given us the stamina, perseverance and foresight to get to the point where we are now. Under the direction of Dr. Sanville and the U-CF board, we began discussions as early as January of 2020. As February arrived, those meetings went from weekly to daily and then hourly. To the team here, it was about getting our technology on board, our bus drivers and food services coordinated, and receiving stakeholder input.
No idea was a bad idea. Every idea was considered, and we followed the guidance of from our health officials and those who had the knowledge to help us make informed decisions. We also had a supportive community, and resilient children. Everyone looked out for everyone else, and together, we made it through. We began the COVID-19 journey with virtual hugs and now return to real hugs, smiles and high fives.
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For every educator, there is an influential teacher or teachers in his/her life who inspired them to enter education. Who was that teacher for you?
Sister DeLuitus, my second grade teacher. I remember having a leadership role in her classroom. I was the page turner when she played piano, and I often stayed after school to do other projects. I feel that she saw that leadership quality in me.
In order to condition for high school track, I begrudgingly ran cross country, and to this day I can still hear my coach Mr. Fuel with his booming voice, yelling “Dani! Dani! Go!” I remember the conversations I would have with him on those long bus rides to indoor track meets when he would tell me, ‘You should consider teaching as a career.’ That resonated with me back then. Before joining the Chadds Ford Elementary School in 2019, I was a teacher in Delaware County for 20 years, and everyone I interacted with really influenced my journey to leadership as a principal.
I hope that I can continue to give that back to people here at Chadds Ford Elementary School in order to inspire them to be the next generation of leaders.
What is your favorite time of the day at Chadds Ford Elementary School? In other words, is there a moment that you look forward to every day?
I have two moments. The first is when we open our doors at 8:50 and the students start to flood into the school from buses and cars, and they’re all happy and smiling. How could you not smile when you hear 350 “Hellos” and getting that reciprocal
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feedback and the kindness that exudes from them? We get to feed off their energy and that’s what makes us who we are as educators.
The other moments are in the lunchroom and during recess. For me in my role, that’s really where I get to see the students’ interactions and how they engage with each other socially.
What is your favorite spot in Chadds Ford?
I love being able to admire the beautiful sunsets from my office window at Chadds Ford Elementary School when the kiddoes have safely returned home. My husband and my eight-year-old son like to tube down the Brandywine River. We like to fish and hike and be outdoors and take relaxing drives, and witnessing the fall in this area is beautiful.
You host a dinner party, and can invite anyone. Who would you see at the party?
We – the entire staff at Chadds Ford Elementary School – have the party at the Brandywine River Museum of Art outdoors at dusk. We will start off with food from Brandywine Prime and desserts from Oso Sweet Bakery. We will invite some local musicians perform some Aretha Franklin, and also invite Jon Bon Jovi to play some of his music, while at the same time invite Andrew Wyeth to give tours of the museum and share some of his magic with us.
It would also be really great to speak with the first superintendent of the Unionville-Chadds Ford School District, to discuss the continuing evolution of public education. We would also invite author Malcolm Gladwell, researcher John Hattie, author Maya Angelou and former Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. For some fun, we would also invite comedian Sebastian Maniscalco and for the sports fans at the party, we would invite either Jackie Robinson or Mike Schmidt. We would end the night with a movie screening of an M. Night Shyamalan film.
What food or beverage can always be found in your refrigerator?
I love a good charcuterie board, so our refrigerator includes a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables. Because we have an eight-year-old, we stock it with water juice boxes and healthy snacks, and of course ice cream for dessert.
- Richard Gaw
