Best Public Schools in Bear, DE

Summary:

The city of Bear, Delaware is home to three elementary schools serving grades K-5: Wilbur (Kathleen H.) Elementary, Loss (Olive B.) Elementary School, and Oberle (William) Elementary School. These schools fall under the jurisdiction of three different school districts: Colonial School District, Appoquinimink School District, and Christina School District.

Based on the available data, the standout school in Bear is Loss (Olive B.) Elementary School, which consistently ranks among the top elementary schools in the state, with a statewide rank between 7-13 out of 109 schools and a 4-5 out of 5-star rating from SchoolDigger. In contrast, Oberle (William) Elementary School appears to be the weakest performer, ranking 79-92 out of 103-109 elementary schools and receiving a 1-star rating.

The performance gap between the top-performing Loss (Olive B.) Elementary and the lowest-performing Oberle (William) Elementary is quite significant, with differences of 20-40 percentage points in proficiency rates across various subjects. Additionally, all three schools have a high chronic absenteeism rate of 20.4%, which is an area for potential improvement. The higher spending per student at Oberle (William) Elementary does not seem to translate into better academic outcomes, suggesting that factors beyond just funding may be at play in driving school performance.

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2025)				Ranking (2024)				DeSSA Science (2025)	DeSSA Social Studies (2025)		Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts (2025)			Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics (2025)			Per Pupil Expenditures (2025)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Statewide Rank (2024)	State Percentile (2024)	Rank Change from Previous Year	DeSSA Science 5th Grade	DeSSA Social Studies 4th Grade	DeSSA Social Studies 5th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts 3rd Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts 4th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts 5th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 3rd Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 4th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 5th Grade	Total
Loss (Olive B.) Elementary School	Public	1-5	200 Brennan Boulevard	Bear	19701	New Castle County	Appoquinimink School District	No	No	No	No	(302) 832-1343	499	37	13.6		175 (35.1%)	100 (20.0%)	38 (7.6%)	145 (29.1%)	4 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	37 (7.4%)	91	7^th of 109 public elementary schools	93.6%		86.3	13^th of 106 public elementary schools	87.7%	6	60.2	68.0	80.0	55.9	61.7	64.8	60.8	63.6	57.4	$18,162
Oberle (William) Elementary School	Public	K-5	500 South Caledonia Way	Bear	19701	New Castle County	Christina School District	No	No	No	Yes	(302) 834-5910	512	40	12.8		59 (11.5%)	155 (30.3%)	279 (54.5%)	3 (0.6%)	3 (0.6%)	1 (0.2%)	12 (2.3%)	19.7	89^th of 109 public elementary schools	18.3%		14.7	92^nd of 106 public elementary schools	13.2%	3	20.7	13.9	38.8	21.7	29.2	31.8	18.4	23.3	23.3	$26,351
Wilbur (Kathleen H.) Elementary	Public	K-5	4050 Wrangle Hill Road	Bear	19701	New Castle County	Colonial School District	No	No	No	Yes	(302) 832-6330	1,052	66	15.9		263 (25.0%)	505 (48.0%)	171 (16.3%)	39 (3.7%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	73 (6.9%)	30.7	73^rd of 109 public elementary schools	33.0%		38.9	61^st of 106 public elementary schools	42.5%	12	24.2	23.0	53.0	29.9	23.9	38.5	37.3	26.6	20.8	$19,634

Cities Near Bear

City	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
Newark	0.99 mi	29	20^th
New Castle	4.51 mi	15	33^rd
Middletown	5.33 mi	16	8^th
Wilmington	7.39 mi	57	27^th
Hockessin	10.94 mi	3	1^st

See the top DE Delaware cities

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Delaware Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.