Summary:
The Malvern School District is served by a single elementary school, Malvern Elementary School, which educates students from Pre-Kindergarten through 4th grade in a community where over three-quarters of students come from low-income households.
Malvern Elementary School is a school on a strong upward trajectory, showing consistent and significant academic improvement across all subjects over the last three years. Its state ranking jumped from the 15th percentile to the 42nd percentile, with Mathematics proficiency rising dramatically from 26.5% to 39.8%. The school serves 781 students with a student-teacher ratio of 16.8:1 and per-student spending of $14,922. While the school outperforms the district average, it still lags behind state averages in most categories, though it has earned a 2-star rating for the 2025-2026 school year.
A key finding is the "3rd Grade Peak" phenomenon, where 3rd graders dramatically outperform 4th graders in every subject. In Mathematics, 55.2% of 3rd graders were proficient compared to just 25.3% of 4th graders—a nearly 30-point gap. The 3rd-grade math scores are a standout strength, exceeding the state average by nearly 10 points. However, the 4th-grade scores are a significant area of concern, falling well below state averages. This disparity suggests a need to examine the 4th-grade curriculum and the transition from 3rd to 4th grade. Overall, the school's rapid improvement and high per-student spending in a high-needs context suggest recent instructional changes are yielding positive results.
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