Delaware School for the Deaf - Newark

Christina Early Education Center is a public early childhood education center within the Christina School District located at 620 E. Chestnut Hill Road in Newark, Delaware. It serves children ages 3 and 4 in preschool and prekindergarten programs, including both typically developing children and those with special needs who have IEPs. The center provides inclusive education with certified early childhood and special education teachers. Students with special needs receive speech, physical, and occupational therapy as determined by their IEP teams. Programs include full-day and part-day options, and the Early Childhood Assistance Program (ECAP) offers free preschool for income-qualified 4-year-olds residing in the district. Enrollment is available for children with disabilities by contacting the main office and for others through screening and eligibility processes. The center participates in the Delaware Stars for Early Success program and emphasizes developmentally appropriate, hands-on learning in a safe environment.

The College School began in September 1970 as Beechwood, a Wilmington school for children who needed extra help acquiring basic skills. We moved to Newark in 1985, and in 1988 joined the University of Delaware's College of Education and Human Development as its laboratory school, taking our current name. Today we serve bright students in grades 1 through 8 who have learning differences, on UD's Children's Campus on Wyoming Road, with the goal of preparing each student to return to a mainstream classroom. Small classes and small-group instruction let teachers build on each child's strengths. Literacy instruction runs from phonological awareness and decoding through fluency and comprehension, and math uses Reveal and Connected Math. Every classroom has a 1:1 computer ratio with Read & Write and Bookshare, and our team includes an occupational therapist, a speech-language therapist and a school psychologist who provides testing, short-term counseling and social groups. Tuition for 2026-27 is $26,780, with limited need-based aid. We offer before care, after care, Homework Club, clubs such as Lego, drama, ASL and STEM Explorers with UD engineering students, and summer camps open to the community.

Arbor Academy provides an individualized education for each student. We work to meet every student’s needs, and our consultation services help families take an active role in their student’s education.