Concord High School (Delaware)

Concord is a fully inclusive high school that offers a range of different levels of classes. Students can take classes at the Advanced Placement (AP), Honors, College Preparatory, Traditional, and Special Education levels, and a non-diploma track is also available. Concord offers 21 AP classes, the most of any school in the Brandywine School District.[3]

Courses that go beyond the AP level are also offered, including linear algebra and multivariable calculus.[4]

Students at Concord have the opportunity to join many curricular, co-curricular, and extra-curricular activities, including the following:

• Academic Bowl[5]
• Academic World Quest – State Champions 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018,[6] 6th place at 2016 Nationals, 11th place at 2018 Nationals, 16th place at 2015 Nationals[7]
• DECA[7]
• Educators Rising[7]
• The Grapevine
• Interact Club[7]
• Leader Corps
• Math League[5]
• Mock Trial
• National Honor Society[8]
• MIT InvenTeams[7]
• Raider Reader (school newspaper)[9]
• Science National Honor Society[8]
• Science Olympiad[5]
• Technology Student Association (TSA) – several Delaware TSA state presidents[10][11] and national finalists[12][13] have attended Concord[5]
• Ultimate Frisbee Club
• Yearbook[7]

Concord is a member of Flight A of the Blue Hen Conference in the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association (DIAA).[14] The Raiders compete in Division I for sports in which the DIAA has split schools into divisions for playoffs or state championship meets. Concord fields a full slate of teams in all three sports seasons.[15]

An image of the mascot for the Concord Raiders.

Concord's athletic director is Larry Jacobs.[16]

Concord, and all high schools in the Brandywine School District, are partnered with ATI Physical Therapy to provide sports medicine services.

In the 1960s, the area north of Wilmington (referred to as Brandywine Hundred) was growing rapidly. The school district (then known as the Alfred I. DuPont School district) was opening new schools as rapidly as possible. Soon, it became apparent that the one high school in the district, Brandywine High School, would not be able to handle the increase in students. The district decided to open a second high school rather than expand the existing one.

The student body for the new high school was developed slowly. At first, students from the existing two junior high schools (Forwood and Springer) were selected based on where they lived to attend the yet to be built high school. The first year (1967–68), Concord High School was held at the then new Hanby Junior High and consisted of 9th and 10th graders. The students met in the top floor while elementary students attended classes in the lower floor while their school was being built. The following year (1968–69), the student body was expanded to 9th, 10th and 11th grades and the elementary students were moved out to their new home.

During this period, the Concord High School building was under construction and planned to open in the fall of 1969. However, a worker strike and construction issues delayed its opening. Since the school was not completed, the student body now consisting of 10th through 12th grades was forced out of their temporary home at Hanby Junior High and into the Brandywine High School building on double sessions. Brandywine High School students attended their school in the morning, while the Concord students attended in the afternoon.

Concord High School finally opened in January 1970 and the first senior class graduated a few months later in June. Even though the school was open, construction was not completed in several areas including the gym, auditorium and swimming pool until the fall of 1970.

The first principal, Dr. William J. Bailey, promoted what was, at the time, a progressive environment that emphasized trust and responsibility among the students. Students were given then unheard of freedoms and responsibilities, which worked extremely well during the progressive periods of the late 1960s and early 1970s. For example, there was no dress code for students or teachers; there was a students' designated smoking area near the bus stops at the front of the building and a rotating schedule was in place with a free period which the students could use as they pleased, including listening to music in the cafeteria, reading in the library, or doing independent study in the classrooms. At one face-to-face between Dr. Bailey and the senior class Bailey was asked if there could be a "Senior Odd Day" at the school. Bailey paused, looked around the auditorium and jokingly said..."every day's senior odd day at this school." Some courses were offered on a non-graded basis, meaning students were placed depending on their abilities rather than their age. For example, English was offered in 5 levels of mastery and each level could have students from all three grades (10–12). Grading earned within each level was still the traditional A – F. Bailey left in the mid-1970s to become a professor of education at the University of Delaware.

• Justin Brown (born 1991), NFL wide receiver
• Terri Dendy (born 1965), track and field athlete
• Vicki Huber (born 1967), Olympic middle-distance runner
• Mary Knisely (born 1959), US and Pan Am champion at 3,000 meters
• Luke Matheny (born 1976, class of 1993), Academy Award-winning motion picture director, writer and actor
• Scott A. McGregor (born 1956, class of 1974), technology executive and philanthropist
• Montell Owens (born 1984, class of 2002), NFL fullback
• Chip Reid (class of 1973), national news reporter
• Adam Ruben (born 1979, class of 1997), author and Science Channel host
• Marc Silverstein (born 1971), Food Network and Discovery Channel host
• Ron Suskind (born 1959), Pulitzer Prize winner (journalism) and author
• Paul Worrilow (born 1990), NFL linebacker

• Official website
• Athletics website
• Crew team website