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NILES — The Brandywine school district has seen an increase in enrollment this fall, Superintendent Travis Walker told school board members at Monday’s meeting.

     Walker reported that enrollment so far this fall is at 1,362 students which is up around 50 students from last year’s count of 1,311 students. He noted that the official fall count day is in early October.

     “We’ve grown by about 50 students for the second year in a row,” he said. “This is good news.”

     Walker told board members that the first weeks of school have gone smoothly and that the professional trainings conducted over the summer have proved beneficial. A group of staff members received training earlier in the summer and the company came to Brandywine to train all staff in August.

“Our fostering engagement training went well and we had a lot of positive feedback from the day of training for strategies to use in the classroom to engage students,” he said. “Teachers were impressed with what the training offered.”

     Walker said the trainers were also impressed with the district staff. “They gave us positive feedback on how teachers were willing to learn, how thoughtful the teachers were and how hard working they are,” he said. “I want to thank the staff for embracing the training.”

     Board members also heard from instructional coach Emily Zablocki-Kohler about a new program called “BEST” which stands for behavioral emotional skills and traits. She said it is similar to what is already being used now for a variety of behavior, math and reading interventions and is part of a countywide “whole child effort”.

     She said the BEST program provides supports to help students solve problems, regulate their behavior and communicate with friends. She said a 20 minute block of time is set aside each day at the elementary level to focus on lessons to help build skills including the “character traits of a Bobcat”. The lessons on character traits are weekly at the secondary level.

     She said the program is based on educational research from a variety of sources including the World Economic Forum. She said business and industry leaders say that not only do 62 percent of young people not have technical skills needed, 60 percent don’t have the personal attributes they are looking for.

     When the World Economic Forum element was questioned by board members, Kohler and Walker said the WEF information is backed up by research from other sources who have shown that strengthening students’ social and emotional skills also helps them do better academically and decreases behavioral problems.  

     In action Monday, board members approved a new two year contract with the Brandywine District Education Association which represents the district’s teachers. The contract runs through June 30, 2026. Walker said there is no pay raise this year but wages will be looked at again next year.

     Items introduced this week and to be acted on at the next meeting on Oct. 7 include approval of mileage and reimbursement rates, a fifth grade overnight camp request and CTE classes.