New partnership with UNCW transforms DC Virgo

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — After years of struggling, a school in Wilmington is getting a big upgrade thanks to UNCW. Not only that, it’s also the first of its kind in the state. At DC Virgo Preparatory School in Wilmington, a new school year is also a new start for the school and students.

“It’s an exciting blend of what DC Virgo was and new and incredible possibilities for the future,” UNCW associate dean Donyell Roseboro said.

UNCW formed a partnership with the year-round school, transforming it into a K-8 lab school.

“This is a school where we can combine the research based best practices for education with the practice of teaching so that those are always seamless and not necessarily ever disconnected,” Roseboro said.

This now opens a new door of possibilities for the school, which was failing in previous years, possibilities some students could not even imagine.

“It means a lot to me and it means a lot to my fellow classmates because it’s basically the stuff we want to learn basically last year, we have to wait,” seventh grader Jasire Chaney said.

The partnership with UNCW will allow more opportunities in community engagement, performing arts, and science technology, engineering and math, or stem.

“What we hope and believe sincerely is that college becomes a norm for our kids, for our young people, that they understand that this is aspirational but it is also doable, it is possible, and we expect it of you,” Roseboro said.

This makes college more of a reality for these kids.

“I thought about going to UNCW when I’m older. But you never know cause I have a long way till college,” Chaney said.

So far, more than 250 students are enrolled at the school and many of them are returning students. UNCW students will also have opportunities to work alongside Virgo faculty through college courses.