Laurel Elementary School

Laurel Elementary School serves 1,145 students in grades 1-6 in Laurel, Delaware, and is part of the Laurel School District, which ranks in the lower third of Delaware districts.

Laurel Elementary currently ranks 88th out of 106 Delaware elementary schools, placing it in the bottom quartile of state rankings—a position it has held for the past seven years. Academic proficiency rates lag significantly behind nearby schools. For example, in 3rd grade ELA, only 18.41% of Laurel students are proficient, compared to 48.18% at Frederick Douglass Elementary School and 42.86% at Phillis Wheatley Elementary School. The gap is even wider in 4th grade math, where Laurel's proficiency rate of 20.1% is less than half of Seaford Central Elementary School's 53.16%. These neighboring Seaford schools, located just 7-8 miles away, serve similar student populations yet rank in the top half of the state—demonstrating that the challenges Laurel faces are not insurmountable.

There are a few bright spots worth noting. Laurel's chronic absenteeism rate of 16.2% is actually better than both the district (18.7%) and state (17.1%) averages, and it has improved dramatically from a pandemic-era high of 40.5%. Additionally, 5th grade Social Studies stands out as the school's strongest subject, with 35.64% proficiency. However, the school's subgroup performance has been declining across nearly every category over the past three years, and Laurel spends significantly less per student ($10,110) than higher-performing nearby schools like Blades Elementary School ($14,698) and Georgetown Elementary School ($14,056). For parents considering this school, the comparison to Seaford's success with similar demographics suggests that meaningful improvement is possible, but significant work lies ahead.