[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 8 (Thursday, February 3, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Page S337]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      CELEBRATING ST. PAUL SCHOOL

 Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, today I rise to tell you about St. 
Paul School in my hometown of Wilmington, Delaware. In a country that 
can only be measured by the well-being of its least-advantaged 
citizenry, St. Paul has a special story that is too often left untold.
  St. Paul Church and the adjoining school are landmarks on the 
Wilmington skyline, visible from Interstate 95 heading North through 
Wilmington. Surrounding it are remnants of a once heavily-populated 
Irish and German immigrant communities and now is in the heart of the 
Hispanic section of the city. It sits at the base of the West Side and 
since the 1800's, has been a safe haven for generations of children and 
families newly arriving to American shores and settling in our 
community.
  St. Paul School was founded in 1874. Its 125 year history is clear--
providing quality education to immigrant and minority children. Yet at 
St. Paul, there is a much deeper, much more powerful message. While St. 
Paul is a school of 235 kindergarten through eighth graders, 99% of 
whom are urban children of color from some of Wilmington's most 
distressed areas, its students are prepared well and consistently 
perform above the national indicators of student achievement.
  There is no culture of poverty or sense of hopelessness in any child, 
in any classroom in this school. St. Paul's dispels the assumptions and 
myths about the innate inability of inner-city minority children from 
very precarious circumstances to succeed academically and socially in 
mainstream society. At St. Paul, parents are properly engaged, teachers 
are supremely dedicated and most important, children come ready to 
learn. This in a school where more than half the students enter with 
limited English-speaking ability, most of the families live on the 
margins of poverty and the teachers and administration work for pay 
well-below their parochial, public and private counterparts.
  St. Paul is indeed a special place, but in my view, it is one of so 
many other stories we need to find out about, embrace and share with 
America. Furthermore, it is the reason that we must continue to invest 
in the education of our children. On February 9, 2000 in Wilmington, 
there will be a Commemorative Mass benefiting the Saint Paul School 
Scholarship Fund. It is a time when St. Paul School will take center 
stage for many in our community. It makes perfect sense because every 
day, education and its importance takes center stage in the lives of 
St. Paul children.
  Our community--both now and in future--will be better because of the 
efforts of schools like St. Paul around the country where truly no one 
child is left behind. We in Wilmington salute St. Paul School.




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