Terrance Newton, Beloved Wilmington Principal, Dies After Crash

WILMINGTON, DE — Terrance Newton, a beloved Wilmington principal who gained national notoriety by starting a school barbershop as a way to bond with students, died Monday from injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident. He was 47.

Newton — or "Newt" as many knew him — had served as principal of Warner Elementary School since 2019.

Red Clay Consolidated School District Superintendent Dorrell Green confirmed Newton's death in a statement posted to the district's website.

"Dr. Newton was a true advocate for students and a genuine supporter of his staff. He was an innovative and dynamic school leader that put the whole child first," Green said in a statement. "Newt's high energy, infectious personality and passion for his school community was unparalleled."

The motorcycle crash happened Friday at 10:45 p.m. on Old Baltimore Pike in Newark, according to multiple reports. Newton was riding a 2020 Harley Davidson westbound when Delaware State Police said he tried to pass a vehicle ahead of him.

As he moved to pass the vehicle, Newton's Harley struck the raised concrete median. Newton, who police said was wearing a helmet, was thrown from the motorcycle.

When paramedics arrived, they found Newton laying in the street. He was treated for a head injury and taken to Christiana Hospital where he later died, WPVI reported.

After experiencing violence and poverty as he grew up on Wilmington's East Side, Newton developed a passion for keeping his students away from both. This included starting an in-school barbershop for students and also leading efforts to provide Christmas gifts for students in need, Delaware Online reported.

"When I was coming up as a kid, a lot of things I learned was in the barbershop," Newton told Delaware Online in 2015. "Just the conversations, listening to people talk, listening to their opinions. That’s what I utilize with my kids here."

His barbershop landed him on national television when he appeared on The Kelly Clarkson Show in February 2020. On the show, he talked about how cutting students' hair created relationships with them and ultimately reduced school suspensions. He also appeared on Good Morning America and NBC's Nightly News with Lester Holt.

"Newt was so much more than an educator and embodied the strength that our children deserve," Green said in a statement.

As a member of the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. and Delaware State University alumni, Newton became a youth rehabilitative counselor at Ferris School, a detention center for juvenile criminals. There, he set a goal hoping to influence them before they ended up behind bars, Delaware Online reported.

"I wanted to be at the preventive stage ... to work in the schools and be more of a role model for these kids because I can relate to them," he told Delaware Online in 2015. "I come from the same communities they come from. I understand the struggles that they go through."

In 2014, Newton became an administrator at H.B. du Pont Middle School. A few years later, he was principal at Warner Elementary.

He developed new systems at Warner to not only address academics but also incorporated broader services that made Warner "such a special place for students, staff, families, and the community at large," the district said in a statement.

"His passion for student success will have a lasting impact on Warner and the greater Red Clay community," the statement read.