Smyrna
Smyrna: Below the State Average Across a Decade of Data
In Delaware's district-level chronic-absence data, 32 entities have a full decade of records. Nine kept their chronic absenteeism rate below the state average in every available year. Only two of thos...
Seaford's Graduation Rate Fell 5.8 Points, Delaware's Steepest District Decline
Correction (July 21, 2026): The original headline said no other Delaware district had declined. The complete package-backed panel shows four districts finished 2023 below their 2015 rates. The article...
Delaware Special-Education Chronic Absence Fell Below 2019
Correction (July 21, 2026): The original article understated the 2018-19-to-2024-25 special-education improvement as 0.5 percentage points instead of 0.6. It also said special education was the only s...
One in Four SpEd Students Still Don't Graduate on Time
Correction (July 20, 2026; audited July 21): An earlier version incorrectly said no subgroup improved more than special education, understated Smyrna's advantage over Christina, and described the Chri...
9th Grade: Where 1 in 4 Delaware Students Goes Missing
At Colonial School District's William Penn High School, the hallways thin out noticeably once students cross from middle school into 9th grade. Across Delaware, the pattern repeats: something happens ...
Only 8 of 35 Districts Beat Their Pre-COVID Absence Rates
Smyrna School District, in the heart of Kent County, has posted a chronic absenteeism rate below the state average every year for a decade. Its 2025 rate of 12.1% is among the lowest of any traditiona...
Lake Forest Crossed 90%. No Geographic District Gained More.
In 2019, Lake Forest School District reported a four-year graduation rate of 78.3%, its lowest rate in the historical records examined here. It trailed Delaware's published state rate by 10.0 percenta...
Dover's Capital District: 1 in 4 Students Still Missing School
In the middle school grades at Capital School District in Dover, more than three in 10 students are chronically absent. In 9th grade, the number is closer to four in 10. Across the district, where mat...
Delaware Hits an All-Time High 88.9% Graduation Rate. The 90% Line Is Still 1.1 Points Away.
For the class of 2023, 88.9% of Delaware's public high school students earned a diploma within four years. That is the highest four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate the state has ever recorded, 4....
Four Districts, One City, 6,476 Fewer Students
The four districts that share responsibility for educating Wilmington's children lost 6,476 students over the past decade, an 11.0% decline that left them serving 52,641 in 2024-25, down from 59,117. ...
Appoquinimink Adds 3,867 Students and Transforms Along the Way
In a state where most traditional school districts are shrinking, Appoquinimink keeps building schools. The southern New Castle County district added 3,867 students over the past decade, a 39.9% surge...
Three in Four Delaware Districts Are Now Majority-Minority
A decade ago, fewer than half of Delaware's school districts enrolled a majority of students of color. By 2024-25, 30 of 39 did. The shift from 41.2% to 76.9% majority-minority districts between 2014-...