A principal for Crystal Run Elementary School has been appointed, school opening this fall

Don Davis has been selected as the founding principal of Crystal Run Elementary School in the Appoquinimink School District.

Crystal Run Elementary School will serve 840 students and is the district’s first installment of its new K-12 Summit Campus. The campus is set to include the district’s fifth middle school and fourth high school, details of which have yet to be announced.

Davis, who serves as principal of Townsend Elementary School, will be Crystal Run's first principal upon its opening in August for the 2023-2024 school year. He resides in Middletown with his wife, Annie, and their four children.

Don Davis will be the founding principal of the new Crystal Run Elementary School in the Appoquinimink School District this fall.
Don Davis will be the founding principal of the new Crystal Run Elementary School in the Appoquinimink School District this fall.

Before his current tenure at Townsend, Davis held administrative positions at Old State Elementary, Brick Mill Elementary and Olive B. Loss Elementary.

Davis is excited to bring various school communities together to create a new culture and looks forward to meeting Crystal Run families to discuss how they would like to shape the school and best support students, he said in a statement from the district.

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“I make it a practice to be in classrooms as often as possible, support teaching and learning in tangible ways, cultivate leadership in others, and show my support at extracurricular activities, special events, meetings, trainings, celebrations, and the hundreds of other aspects of school life that build a community,” Davis said.

With his departure from Townsend Elementary, current Assistant Principal Suzanne Street will succeed Davis as principal of the school. A search is underway for Townsend’s new assistant principal.

Suzanne Street will take over as principal of Townsend Elementary School after current principal, Don Davis, transitions to principal of Crystal Run Elementary School.
Suzanne Street will take over as principal of Townsend Elementary School after current principal, Don Davis, transitions to principal of Crystal Run Elementary School.

Street lives with her daughter, Isabelle, in Bear and looks forward to building upon school relationships she has already created as assistant principal of Townsend while maintaining a safe, supportive learning environment that meets the needs of all students, she said in a statement from the district.

Construction of Crystal Run Elementary School, which began in mid-November, is ongoing.

Construction for Crystal Run Elementary School is currently underway in the Appoquinimink School District. This will be the school's latest addition and the first installment of the new K-12 Summit Campus. The school will open for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Construction for Crystal Run Elementary School is currently underway in the Appoquinimink School District. This will be the school's latest addition and the first installment of the new K-12 Summit Campus. The school will open for the 2023-2024 academic year.

Highlights of the new 87,000-square-foot, two-story facility include 35 classrooms, a STEM room, a combination gym/cafeteria, a library media center, a playground and collaborative learning spaces. The school will be energy-efficient, much like Lorewood Grove Elementary School, the district said.

In total, the project costs $74.8 million, with 76% funded by the state of Delaware and 24% funded locally through the sale of bonds.

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This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Crystal Run Elementary, in Appo School District, gets first principal