Wicomico County Public Schools

Wicomico County Public Schools is the public school district for Wicomico County, Maryland. WCPS has 24 schools, consisting of 16 elementary, 1 elementary/middle, 3 middle, 1 middle/high, and 3 high schools.^[3]

Wicomico County Public Schools
Address
2424 Northgate Drive Suite 100 Salisbury , Wicomico, Maryland, 21801 United States
District information
Type	Public
Grades	PreK-12
Established	1868; 156 years ago (1868)
Superintendent	Dr. Micah Stauffer
School board	Susan W. Beauchamp Allen C. Brown, Sr. Dr. Bonnie H. Ennis Kristin Hazel N. Eugene "Gene"​ Malone Jr. John Palmer David A. Plotts
Chair of the board	N. Eugene "Gene"​ Malone Jr.
Schools	24
Budget	$304 Million[1]
NCES District ID	2400690[2]
Students and staff
Students	14,889
Teachers	1,108
Staff	1,218
Athletic conference	Bayside Conference
Other information
Website	www.wicomicoschools.org

The district has over 15,000 students and close to 1,300 teachers.^[4] It is the largest school district on the Eastern Shore.

Demographics

Ethnic composition of the district in 2020 was 44% Caucasian, 37% African American, 11% Hispanic/Latino, 3% Asian, 8% two races.^[3] As of 2020, the 4-year adjusted cohort graduation rate was 83.93%.^[3]

Board of education

The Wicomico County Board of Education was previously appointed by the governor of Maryland.^[5] Beginning with the November 2018 election, the board transitioned to fully elected. It has one member elected from each of the five council districts, plus two elected at-large, in a non-partisan manner.^[6]

List of Schools

The following are statistics from the FY 2024 Educational Facilities Master Plan - Facilities Inventory.^[7]

Elementary

School Name	City or Community	Grades	Opening Date	Students	State Capacity	Square Footage
Beaver Run Elementary	Salisbury	PK - 2	2022	652	664	98,193
Chipman Elementary	Salisbury	PK - 1	1986	262	384	40,752
Delmar Elementary	Delmar	PK - 4	1978	858	683	76,645
East Salisbury Elementary	Salisbury	3 - 5	1942	421	424	61,889
Fruitland Primary Elementary	Fruitland	PK - 2	1955	441	474	56,308
Fruitland Intermediate Elementary	Fruitland	3 - 5	1937	393	378	43,712
Glen Avenue Elementary	Salisbury	2 - 5	1964	397	470	55,068
North Salisbury Elementary	Salisbury	3 - 5	2006	505	506	76,999
Northwestern Elementary	Mardela Springs	PK - 5	1966	341	251	26,800
Pemberton Elementary	Salisbury	PK - 5	2001	529	523	73,917
Pinehurst Elementary	Salisbury	PK - 5	1937	486	467	76,224
Prince Street Elementary	Salisbury	PK - 5	2008	854	616	73,830
West Salisbury Elementary	Salisbury	PK - 2	2018	346	352	60,833
Westside Primary Elementary	Quantico	PK - 1	1956	192	199	20,569
Westside Intermediate Elementary	Quantico	2 - 5	1999	343	414	54,797
Willards Elementary	Willards	PK - 3	2003	309	362	51,247

Delmar Elementary was previously until grade 6, but changed to being up to grade 5 in 2000 upon the opening of the new Delmar Middle School/Delmar High School complex of the Delmar School District. Residents of Delmar, Maryland may attend the Delmar, Delaware schools or they may attend Wicomico Middle School.^[8]

Middle

School Name	City or Community	Grades	Opening Date	Students	State Capacity	Square Footage
Bennett Middle School	Fruitland	6 - 8	2015	906	1,114	161,304
Pittsville Elementary / Middle School	Pittsville	4 - 8	1956	329	505	79,335
Salisbury Middle School	Salisbury	6 - 8	1999	873	999	143,519
Wicomico Middle School	Salisbury	6 - 8	1931	819	914	135,750

In the late 1990s there was a movement to have Salisbury Middle School named after Charles Chipman, an African-American teacher who worked at Wicomico County schools.^[9] He originated from New Jersey.^[10]

High

School Name	City or Community	Grades	Opening Date	Students	State Capacity	Square Footage
James M. Bennett High School	Salisbury	9 - 12	2010	1,343	1,496	247,202
Mardela Middle & High School	Mardela Springs	6 - 12	1980	691	616	87,633
Parkside High School	Salisbury	9 - 12	1975	1,160	944	277,724
Wicomico High School	Salisbury	9 - 12	1954	1,325	1,215	195,941

References

1. "Wicomico County Public Schools FY2023 Budget" (PDF). Retrieved November 24, 2022.
2. "Search for Public School Districts – District Detail for Wicomico County Public Schools". National Center for Education Statistics. Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
3. "Wicomico County Public Schools Annual Report 2019-2020" (PDF). Retrieved August 13, 2022.
4. "About Wicomico Public Schools / Fast Facts". www.wcboe.org. Retrieved August 13, 2022.
5. "November 8, 2016 Referendum on School Board - Wicomico Coun..." www.wcboe.org. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
6. Elections, Maryland State Board of. "2018 Candidate Listing". elections.state.md.us. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
7. "FY 2024 Educational Facilities Master Plan - Wicomico County Public Schools" (PDF). www.wicomicoschools.org. Retrieved July 30, 2023.
8. "Board of Ed finalizes redistricting". The Daily Times. Salisbury, Maryland. April 7, 1999. p. 7. - Clipping from Newspapers.com.
9. Stump, Brice (January 13, 1998). "Who was Charles Chipman?". The Daily Times. Salisbury, Maryland. pp. 11, 12. - Clipping of first page and of second page at Newspapers.com
10. "Dr. Charles H. Chipman Is Outstanding Man". The Daily Times. Salisbury, Maryland. February 23, 1981. p. 6. - Clipping at Newspapers.com

External links

• Official website