About Cab Calloway School of the Arts

In 1992 a group of parents approached the Red Clay Consolidated School District in Wilmington, Delaware with a proposal to establish a Creative and Performing Arts Middle School. The idea stemmed from the desire to ensure a quality education for students while nurturing their individual talents and artistic abilities. The parents showed that schools specializing in the arts had a more positive influence on children than those that solely provided academic curriculums. The Red Clay Consolidated District found space on the Wilmington High School campus, and the first public arts school in Delaware was created, providing education for 125 students in grades six and seven.

Around this time, American jazz musician, Cab Calloway, and his wife moved to Delaware to be close to their daughter, Cabella Calloway Langsam. Calloway gave his time, talent, and love to the new arts school, and in November 1992, cut the ribbon at its official grand opening. A year later, the school was renamed the "Cab Calloway School of the Arts" in his honor. In 1994, the students were chosen to sing before thousands of people in the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Harlem at a memorial service held in his honor.

Cab Calloway students have entertained Hillary Rodham Clinton, performed with Bob McGrath (from the original cast of Sesame Street), represented the state of Delaware with their dancing and singing at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and worked with various renowned musical artists.

In 1993, an eighth grade curriculum was added and enrollment reached 200. The school expanded again in 1996 to include grades 9 and 10. Grades 11 and 12 followed, and in June of 2000, the first senior class graduated.

In academic achievement, Cab Calloway ranks number two in the state (second to the Charter School of Wilmington housed in the same building) and first in the Red Clay Consolidated School District.

Currently there are 800 students in the school.