Delaware schools through the years

Brandywine High Schooler Craig Simpson is surprised to see his school decorated with hundreds of rolls of toilet paper on the first day of school. 1987.

Third-grader Crystal Wicker is nervous as her mom, Carmen Wicker, drops her off on her first day at Mount Pleasant Elementary School. 1989.

Students graduate in the final class of P.S. duPont High School in 1978.

Laurie Milligan, 16, of Felton, works with a wig in her cosmetology class at the summer program at Kent VoTech in Woodside. 1979.

Alena Turner, Christin Bingnear, Megan Kennard, Sonya Walker and Crystal Rock play clarinet in the Gunning Bedford Band. 1993.

Sister Donatille, third-grade teacher at St. Hedwig's Elementary, cleans the board. 1985.

University of Delaware graduates celebrated, some with personalized mortarboards, at commencement in 1981.

David Hutson, a senior at Caesar Rodney High School, takes measurements on panels that will be used in a student-built classroom for Polytech High School in Woodside. 1991.

Larry Kubasek finishes cleanup in Conrad high school's cafeteria. 1978.

Director David Casto leads practice at Wilmington High School. 1978.

Students at Rose Valley School near Dover in 1972. According to a story in the Morning News at the time, most students were Amish, and from nearby farms.

Athletes Lemond LeCompte (left) and Shawn Hopkins hang out at lunch at Smyrna High School. 1994.

Students head out of the Krebs School in 1979.

Fabian Greene stretches during gym class at Shue Middle School. 1981.

Christ Our King second-grader Suzanne Harkins speaks up as Amy Merlino and Myree Anderson look on. 1984.

Bill Farneth pours liquid nitrogen for an experiment as students look on. 1990.

Teacher Judy Loveland takes a class picture of her third-graders for posterity before the closing of Marshallton Elementary School. 1978.

Desks and chairs piled high in the gym of Forwood Junior High School in the former Aofred I. du Pont District. The school serves as a supermarket for other schools -- if a school needs something it can go in and shop. 1978.

Teacher Arnaldo Finamore at A.I. duPont High School shows his students where Greece is on the map. 1985.

The Oak Grove Junior High band, from Elsmere, is ready to play. 1976.

Mark Marsh (left) and Michael Minor line up with their classmates for lunch at the Faity City Christian School. 1981.

Third-grade teacher Sandra Maness combines teaching and game-playing in her class at William C. Lewis Elementary School in Wilmington. 1980.

Jeffrey Ishida is putting together a timing device. 1979.

Jennifer Pelzer's fifth-grade class during a reading session. 1978.

A student digs for money in the lunch line at William Lewis Elementary School in Wilmington.

Eighth-grader Jake Milvnsky parks at the crowded bike rack at Springer Junior High School on the first day of school in 1994.

Tony Williams raises his hand to be recognized by his teacher Carol Mayo. 1989.

Students on their way into Brandywine High School stop to pose for a picture. 1983.

Tables loaded with bread for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. The sandwiches were part of a free lunch program for students during the summer. 1977.

Tammy Copeland learns students' names. 1984.

Renee McCarthy and Nikki Bernardo try to find their way to their first class at Kirk Middle School. 1994.

Mary Colton operates the juice squeezer in the Bayard School cafeteria.

Students hit the dance floor at prom. 1977.

Marion Lisehora leads her physical education class in Millsboro. 1979.

Kevin Connelly, math and computer science teacher at Rising Sun High School, in one of his overcrowded eighth-grade computer classrooms.

Dolly Thomas, Gladys M. Reese, Martha Harvilla and Lillie Weaver prep hoagies at William Penn High School. 1982.

First-grade teacher Alma Seebach brings students together on their first day at Lewis Elementary School to tell about their summer experiences. 1990.

Friends enjoy lunchtime at North Star Elementary School. 1976.

Bob Ward runs through the tires in gym class. 1975.

Jeremy Dressler, 5, reaches for cottage cheese found in the salad bar at Tower Hill School cafeteria. 1994.

Carol Cornish (left) and Kim Johnson work in the home economics room to prepare food for sale in the munch room.