Niche.com released their 2016 Best Schools and Districts ranking the other day. Delaware schools and districts were included in the rankings, but it really wasn’t anything to brag about compared to the rest of America. But one Delaware high school was ranked 29th for the best high schools in America. I’m sure it won’t take a rocket scientist for many readers to figure out which one that was and how it got to be on the top! But listed below are all the district, high school, middle school, elementary, and private high school rankings. Where is your child’s school on here?
The Charter School of Wilmington was rated the #3 best charter high school in America, and was 29th on the list of best overall high schools in the country. For all of Governor Markell’s talk about “college and career readiness”, only one Delaware high school made the top 100 list in “college and career readiness” with Charter School of Wilmington coming in 47th place. The school did slightly better as the lone Delaware entrance on the top 100 “best academics” list.
In looking at their list of top high schools, I recognized a lot of names due to growing up in the suburbs of New York City. Many of these schools are in very wealthy areas. When combining these factors with Delaware’s rankings, it is very easy to surmise much of what makes up “great schools” has more to do with socioeconomics than anything else. I don’t give these kinds of list much personal weight, but others do.
The website gives rankings by state, which I will focus on from here on out:
SCHOOL DISTRICTS
- Caesar Rodney
- Red Clay Consolidated
- Appoquinimink
- Cape Henlopen
- Delmar
- Indian River
- Brandywine
- Milford
- Colonial
- Capital
- Smyrna
- Lake Forest
- Christina
- Woodbridge
- Laurel
- Seaford
HIGH SCHOOLS
- Charter School of Wilmington
- Sussex Technical
- Cab Calloway School of the Arts
- St. Georges Technical
- Conrad Schools of Science
- Polytech
- Delaware Military Academy
- Appoquinimink
- Caesar Rodney
- Middletown
- Cape Henlopen
- Concord
- A.I. DuPont
- Hodgson Vocational Technical
- Delmar
- Indian River
- Delcastle Technical
- Howard High School of Technology
- Newark
- Mount Pleasant
- Brandywine
- John S. Charlton School
- Sussex Central
- John Dickinson
- Milford
- Dover
- William Penn
- Smyrna
- Thomas McKean
- Woodbridge
- Lake Forest
- Glasgow
- Laurel
- Positive Outcomes Charter School
- Seaford
- Christiana
- Maurice J. Moyer Academy
MIDDLE SCHOOLS
- Sussex Academy of Arts and Sciences
- Dover Air Force Base
- Beacon
- Skyline
- Fred Fifer
- Everett Meredith
- Louis L. Redding
- Alfred G. Waters
- Postelthwait
- H.B. DuPont
- Mariner
- Georgetown
- Springer
- Stanton
- Selbyville
- Delmar
- Millsboro
- Pierre S. DuPont
- Talley
- Milford Central Academy
- A.I. DuPont
- W.T. Chipman
- John Bassett
- Smyrna
- Gunning Bedford
- George Read
- Shue-Medill
- George B. Kirk
- William Henry
- Gauger-Cobbs
- Central
- Calvin R. McCullough
- Phillis Wheatley
- Seaford
- Prestige Academy
- Bayard
ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS
- Newark Charter School
- Odyssey Charter School
- MOT Charter School
- Nellie Stokes
- Linden Hill
- North Star
- Rehoboth
- Star Hill
- Allen Frear
- Brandywine Springs
- Welch
- Olive B. Loss
- W.B. Simpson
- Shields
- Clayton
- East Millsboro
- Milton
- Bunker Hill
- Lombardy
- Heritage
- Silver Lake
- Brick Mill
- Forest Oak
- Banneker
- Cedar Lane
- Old State
- Long Neck
- W. Reilly Brown
- Claymont
- Mount Pleasant
- Showell
- Lake Forest North
- Richey
- Southern Delaware School of the Arts
- Lord Baltimore
- Georgetown
- Kuumba Academy
- Lancashire
- Hanby
- Mote
- Ross
- North Dover
- Mispillion
- Brittingham
- Providence Creek Academy
- Forwood
- Carrcroft
- North Georgetown
- Lake Forest South
- Maple Lane
- Thurgood Marshall
- Academy of Dover
- Lake Forest East
- Sunnyside
- Hartly
- Booker T. Washington
- Wilbur
- Clayton
- Keene
- Marbrook
- Downes
- Southern
- West Park Place
- Wilmington Manor
- Lake Forest Central
- Carrie Downie
- Richardson Park
- Etta J. Wilson
- Woodbridge
- Maclary
- Pleasantville
- Gallaher
- Baltz
- Highlands
- Smyrna
- Lewis Dual Language
- Seaford Central
- Jennie E. Smith
- McVey
- Shortlidge
- Fairview
- South Dover
- Brader
- Castle Hills
- Warner
- North Smyrna
- Brookside
- Harlan
- Towne Point
- East Dover
- Albert H. Jones
- Leasure
- Elbert-Palmer
- North Laurel
- East Side Charter School
- Thomas Edison Charter School
- Eisenberg
- Blades
- Oberle
- Richardson Park Learning Center
BEST DISTRICTS TO TEACH IN
- Cape Henlopen
- Appoquinimink
- Caesar Rodney
- Red Clay Consolidated
- Delmar
- Brandywine
- Indian River
- Smyrna
- Lake Forest
- Colonial
- Milford
- Capital
- Woodbridge
- Laurel
- Seaford
- Christina
For magnet schools, Cab Calloway came in at #78 on their top 100 national list and was the only Delaware magnet to make that list.
PRIVATE HIGH SCHOOLS IN DELAWARE
- St. Andrews
- Wilmington Friends School
- Tower Hill
- Caravel Academy
- Tall Oaks Classical
- Archmere
- The Tatnall School
- Sanford
- Concord Christian Academy
- Fairwinds Christian
- Aquinas Academy
- St. Elizabeth
- Calvary Christian Academy
- Salesianum
- Ursuline Academy
- Delmarva Christian
- Red Lion Christian Academy
- St. Mark’s
- St. Thomas More Preparatory
- Padua Academy
- Wilmington Christian
These lists appear to be somewhat misleading. Omitted are several Delaware charter schools: Academia Antonia Alonso, Campus Community, Delaware Academy of Public Safety & Security, Delaware College Prep, Early College High School, Family Foundations Academy, First State Montessori Academy, Gateway Lab School, Las Americas Aspira Academy and Reach Academy for Girls. Of course, the charters that opened this school year would not be eligible for a list like this without a lot of available data. And for a school like Newark Charter School, why is it listed only as an elementary school and not a middle school as well?
To see how Niche.com figures all this out, see their ranking methodology from their website.
The Season Of Myths 
Well, I suppose Charter S of Wilmington has done such a bang-up job producing the college and career ready students that the state’s employers need so that DuPont must be laying off jobs that aren’t STEM related.
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Christina’s Early education center didn’t even make the list even though they were the first of its kind to ever get a 5 star rating?
This list is a tad biased
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I have heard from many people that this list has some very bizarre omissions. I have no clue what they go by, how they get their information, or how they truly form their calculations. I would look at this as a very subjective list and not give it a true indicator of school rankings. If even 25% of this is based on standardized test scores, that throws the whole thing into question in my opinion.
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Gonenor Markell is a joke! He has the gall to state on this very website hat he s cutting expenses in schools. This Govenor doesn’t even have the grass cut lomg our state! highways! It never used to ne that way. What is he dig with the money? He should be ashamed of himself..but he could care less! When will someone in this country admit that the education system is broken! with every generation that goes by, the worse education they get..you can look it up! These kids in school today get a worse public school education than their parents..and a very small percentage of their grandparents and those before them. The truth is that most people just plain don’t care, thus you are seeing the demise of America. Many factors enter into this dilemma. I saw where 60 % od High school graduates could not point out Colorado on a U.S. map! 4th graders learned this in the past in geography, which is hardly touched on in schools now. Most can’t make change at the register without the register showing the amount of chamge to give to the customer! Our country is ranked 30th in the world..totally unheard of! Schools need to go back to what worked..eat some crow and do it for our kids and country.
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