Rebecca Feathers

Brick Mill Elementary School
Appoquinimink Schools
Middletown, Delaware
rebecca.feathers@appo.k12.de.us

In her 14 years as a school administrator, Rebecca Feathers has exemplified instructional leadership, building on her classroom teaching experience to cultivate a robust culture of professional learning among the educators she supports and mentors. At Brick Mill Elementary School (BMES), this commitment to leadership development has earned the school recognition for success in closing the achievement gap among its diverse student population; the school was named a Delaware Department of Education Recognition school in 2015. Feathers attributes this progress to the school’s multi-pronged approach to improvement, combining positive school culture, responsive classroom strategies, and strong teamwork to increase student engagement, motivation, and achievement. Implementing Morning Meetings, for example, has helped strengthen student-teacher relationships, increase student ownership, and improve attitudes toward school and learning, leading to improved academic and social outcomes across grade levels. The school has also received recognition for its successful PBIS program implemented under  Feathers’ leadership. Feathers’ peers describe her as caring, supportive, and innovative, a lifelong learner who always has a book in her hand and who eagerly adopts practices and strategies that disrupt the educational status quo and assure that teaching at BMES is ahead of the curve. She holds a Ed.D. and an M.Ed. in School Leadership from Wilmington University and a B.S. in Education from the University of Delaware.