Best Public Schools in New Castle, DE

Summary:

The city of New Castle, Delaware is home to 14 schools, including 9 elementary schools, 3 middle schools, 1 high school, and 1 alternative school, all part of the Colonial School District. The district is ranked 26 out of 32 in the state and has a 1-star rating from SchoolDigger.

A few schools stand out in the district. The Charter School of New Castle serves grades K-8 and has a higher statewide ranking (18 out of 32) and stronger test scores than the district and state averages. Wilmington Manor Elementary School has the highest 2-star rating in the district and some of the stronger test scores, particularly in 3rd and 5th grade math and English language arts. Eisenberg (Harry O.) Elementary School has seen an improvement in its statewide ranking, moving from a 2-star to a 1-star rating, and has relatively strong 5th grade English language arts test scores.

Overall, the schools in the Colonial School District perform below the state averages in English language arts, math, science, and social studies. The district faces challenges with high chronic absenteeism rates, wide variations in spending per student, and student-teacher ratios. However, the success of the Charter School of New Castle demonstrates that there are opportunities for improvement if the right strategies and approaches are implemented.

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)						SAT English Language Arts (2025)	SAT Mathematics (2025)	SAT Essay (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 Science 8th Grade	DeSSA Science 10th Grade	DeSSA Social Studies 4th Grade	DeSSA Social Studies 5th Grade	DeSSA Social Studies 6th Grade	DeSSA Social Studies 7th Grade	DeSSA Social Studies 8th Grade	DeSSA Social Studies 11th Grade	SAT English Language Arts 11th Grade	SAT Mathematics 11th Grade	SAT Essay 11th 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 English Language Arts 6th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts 7th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts 8th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 3rd Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 4th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 5th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 6th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 7th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 8th Grade	Total
Charter School of New Castle	Public, Charter	K-8	170 Lukens Drive	New Castle	19720	New Castle County	Charter School of New Castle	Yes	No	No	Yes	(302) 324-8901	788	35	22.5		19 (2.4%)	721 (91.5%)	33 (4.2%)	2 (0.3%)	5 (0.6%)	1 (0.1%)	7 (0.9%)	32.4	70^th of 109 public elementary schools	35.8%		29.4	77^th of 106 public elementary schools	27.4%	7	14.7			36.3	37.8	24.7	47.0	25.6					39.5	35.8	32.0	30.4	34.7	44.1	46.5	39.0	6.7	16.3	26.0	17.9
Southern Elementary School	Public	K-5	795 Cox Neck Road	New Castle	19720	New Castle County	Colonial School District	No	No	No	Yes	(302) 832-6300	729	57	12.7		251 (34.4%)	362 (49.7%)	68 (9.3%)	16 (2.2%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.3%)	29 (4.0%)	13	96^th of 109 public elementary schools	11.9%		12.4	95^th of 106 public elementary schools	10.4%	1	11.8			13.5	31.6								23.3	13.9	23.1				22.5	25.0	15.3				$36,601
Leach (John G.) School	Public, Alternative	PK, KG-12	10 Landers Lane	New Castle	19720	New Castle County	Colonial School District	No	No	No	No	(302) 429-4055	95	15	6.3		29 (30.5%)	41 (43.2%)	18 (18.9%)	4 (4.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (3.2%)								(n/a)
Wilmington Manor Elementary School	Public	K-5	200 East Roosevelt Avenue	New Castle	19720	New Castle County	Colonial School District	No	No	No	Yes	(302) 323-2901	291	22	13.2		82 (28.2%)	101 (34.7%)	85 (29.2%)	4 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	18 (6.2%)	27.3	76^th of 109 public elementary schools	30.3%		22	83^rd of 106 public elementary schools	21.7%	7	19.2				48.1								26.2	22.2	32.7				30.8		26.9				$30,702
Pleasantville Elementary School	Public	K-5	16 Pleasant Street	New Castle	19720	New Castle County	Colonial School District	No	No	No	Yes	(302) 323-2935	389	29	13.4		89 (22.9%)	169 (43.4%)	104 (26.7%)	4 (1.0%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	22 (5.7%)	20.4	88^th of 109 public elementary schools	19.3%		15.6	91^st of 106 public elementary schools	14.2%	3	19.0			20.9	55.2								17.4	27.9	29.8				18.6	24.3	12.1				$25,005
Eisenberg (Harry O.) Elementary School	Public	K-5	27 Landers Lane	New Castle	19720	New Castle County	Colonial School District	No	No	No	Yes	(302) 429-4074	436	32	13.6		37 (8.5%)	196 (45.0%)	166 (38.1%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	36 (8.3%)	21.8	85^th of 109 public elementary schools	22.0%		29.3	78^th of 106 public elementary schools	26.4%	7	12.3			27.1	36.1								17.7	26.7	38.4				21.3	36.1	17.8				$24,085
Castle Hills Elementary School	Public	K-5	502 Moores Lane	New Castle	19720	New Castle County	Colonial School District	No	No	No	Yes	(302) 323-2915	462	38	12.1		78 (16.9%)	179 (38.7%)	138 (29.9%)	28 (6.1%)	2 (0.4%)	1 (0.2%)	36 (7.8%)	21.3	86^th of 109 public elementary schools	21.1%		12.3	96^th of 106 public elementary schools	9.4%	10	11.4			28.2	40.0								28.8	28.0	25.6				27.2	29.0	16.1				$24,288
Downie (Carrie) Elementary School	Public	K-5	1201 Delaware Street	New Castle	19720	New Castle County	Colonial School District	No	No	No	Yes	(302) 323-2926	324	25	12.9		82 (25.3%)	122 (37.7%)	94 (29.0%)	3 (0.9%)	1 (0.3%)	2 (0.6%)	20 (6.2%)	10.8	100^th of 109 public elementary schools	8.3%		10	100^th of 106 public elementary schools	5.7%					18.2	36.5								14.3	13.6	22.2				21.1	10.0	14.1				$23,745
Read (George) Middle School	Public	6-8	314 East Basin Road	New Castle	19720	New Castle County	Colonial School District	No	No	No	Yes	(302) 323-2760	662	49	13.5		177 (26.7%)	278 (42.0%)	162 (24.5%)	11 (1.7%)	2 (0.3%)	2 (0.3%)	30 (4.5%)	18	46^th of 59 public middle schools	22.0%		14.4	49^th of 54 public middle schools	9.3%	3		5.0				32.9	42.0	24.4								19.0	25.1	24.5				7.8	14.7	14.5	$24,736
Bedford (Gunning) Middle School	Public	6-8	801 Cox Neck Road	New Castle	19720	New Castle County	Colonial School District	No	No	No	Yes	(302) 832-6280	846	56	15.1		220 (26.0%)	427 (50.5%)	131 (15.5%)	21 (2.5%)	5 (0.6%)	1 (0.1%)	41 (4.8%)	24.5	43^rd of 59 public middle schools	27.1%		25.1	43^rd of 54 public middle schools	20.4%			4.7				36.6	49.6	21.8								25.1	33.0	24.1				14.7	23.7	16.8	$24,405
Penn (William) High School	Public	9-12	713 East Basin Road	New Castle	19720	New Castle County	Colonial School District	No	No	No	Yes	(302) 323-2800	2,069	117	17.6		443 (21.4%)	1,030 (49.8%)	483 (23.3%)	34 (1.6%)	9 (0.4%)	3 (0.1%)	67 (3.2%)	28.7	29^th of 41 public high schools	29.3%		22.2	33^rd of 41 public high schools	19.5%	4			18.0						20.9	33.1	7.3	23.0													$24,132
McCullough (Calvin R. ) Middle School	Public	6-8	20 Chase Avenue	New Castle	19720	New Castle County	Colonial School District	No	No	No	Yes	(302) 429-4000	615	35	17.5		72 (11.7%)	279 (45.4%)	231 (37.6%)	3 (0.5%)	4 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	26 (4.2%)	8	57^th of 59 public middle schools	3.4%		7.6	54^th of 54 public middle schools	0.0%	3						21.9	30.8	7.9								15.9	11.2	13.3				9.2	7.7	5.6	$24,377
New Castle Elementary School	Public	K-5	903 Delaware Street	New Castle	19720	New Castle County	Colonial School District	No	No	No	Yes	(302) 323-2880	383	29	13.2		63 (16.4%)	177 (46.2%)	124 (32.4%)	1 (0.3%)	3 (0.8%)	2 (0.5%)	13 (3.4%)	14.7	93^rd of 109 public elementary schools	14.7%		12	97^th of 106 public elementary schools	8.5%	4				14.8	26.7								18.5	19.3	28.0				27.3	31.6	11.8				$25,464

Cities Near New Castle

City	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
Wilmington	3.15 mi	57	27^th
Newark	3.6 mi	29	20^th
Greenville	6.57 mi	1	34^th
Bear	6.67 mi	3	22^nd
Hockessin	7.57 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.