Cape board talks middle school CAP, mid-year unit count

The Cape Henlopen school board met Feb. 13 at Rehoboth Elementary for a brief workshop. The board approved the 2025-26 district calendar and heard updates about the middle school Cape Accelerated Program from two of the district’s middle school CAP teachers.

Students in the program, which aims to academically, socially and emotionally enrich advanced or highly abled students, now attend an advisory period with their CAP teacher five days a week, as opposed to the program previously being incorporated into their math and ELA classes.

According to Frederick Thomas Middle School CAP teacher Ashley Archer, she and the other CAP educators are largely focused now on adjusting their educational experiences to meet the needs and interests of the students.

The program administrators have also expanded the selection process and increased the number of seats to diversify the student cohort.

“I’m really proud that we’re able to do that,” said board Vice President Dr. Janis Hanwell about the strides to diversify the program.

According to Brian Murphy, a CAP teacher at Mariner Middle School, the program is “a really cool place for students to be creative, and problem solve, and put their gifts in a different direction.”

Also at the Feb. 13 meeting, the district’s mid-year unit count, which calculates the number of students enrolled in the district, was announced. The mid-year count came in at 6,666, an increase of 12 units from the Sept. 30 count of 6,654.