The following letter was sent to students at the Bryan Allen Stevenson School of Excellence with a copy provided to the Cape Gazette for publication.
I am proud of you.
There is a particular kind of courage required to try something that has never been done before, to believe in an idea before it is proven, and to step into a space built not on certainty but on possibility. To have tried and not reached the outcome we hoped for is not failure, it is one of the clearest expressions of hope we have.
Ideas matter. The Bryan Allen Stevenson School of Excellence was a beautiful idea, a seed planted with intention, belief and love. It was not given the time or conditions it needed to fully take root and bloom into what it was meant to become.
It is fair, then, to ask what happens to a dream deferred. The answer is not simple, nor is it without emotion. I am not discouraged, and you should not be either. We must grieve, both together and in our own quiet ways. Grief reflects how deeply we care, and the Bryan Allen Stevenson School of Excellence was worthy of that care.
The school was founded on a belief that hope lives within the next generation. Students are not only participants in their education, they are also leaders, thinkers and creators. When we build real connections between students and community, when we listen and trust your voice, transformation is possible.
That belief has not changed. My belief in you has not changed.
This school was not the end of your story. It was an early chapter in a much longer journey. The time you spent here matters. The relationships you built matter. The ideas you explored matter.
Delaware is better because of you.
The promise of charter schools was to innovate, to try something new and to let those lessons extend beyond one place. That promise continues through you, in what you carry forward into your next classrooms and communities.
Our world needs dreamers. Our communities need those willing to imagine something better and work toward it.
You are those dreamers.
Continue to hope. Continue to dream. Continue to use your voice.
You matter. Your voice matters.
I believe in you. I care deeply about each of you, and I am confident that what began at the Bryan Allen Stevenson School of Excellence will live on through you.
You are the next generation of change-makers.
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