Moore (John Bassett) School

Moore (John Bassett) School is a middle school in Smyrna, DE, serving 638 students in grades 4 through 6 as part of the well-regarded Smyrna School District, which holds a 4-star rating.

For parents, the most encouraging news is the school's dramatic improvement in attendance. Chronic absenteeism has fallen from nearly 20% in 2020-2021 to just 11% in 2024-2025—now better than both the state average (17.1%) and the district average (12.1%). This suggests school-level initiatives are working. Academically, Moore shows clear strengths in 6th grade English Language Arts, where 46.43% of students are proficient—more than 7 points above the state average—and in Social Studies, where the school consistently outperforms Delaware averages across all grades. Science scores have also climbed steadily over the past four years and now exceed state averages. The school benefits from a favorable student-teacher ratio of 14.8:1, which supports more individualized attention.

The primary concern for families is mathematics, particularly in 5th grade, where only 27.41% of students are proficient—about 7.5 points below the state average. This gap has persisted for several years. A striking comparison: Clayton Intermediate School, just 2.87 miles away in the same district, achieves 41.77% proficiency in 5th grade math—a 14-point difference that suggests possible instructional or population differences worth investigating. Meanwhile, Dover Air Force Base Middle School posts nearly double Moore's 6th grade math scores, but with a 6.5:1 student-teacher ratio and $26,336 per-student spending—more than double Moore's budget. Despite its math challenges, Moore outperforms regional peers like the Middle School of Excellence in Dover, which has a 28.1% chronic absenteeism rate and math proficiency in the single digits. Overall, Moore is a solid, improving school where math intervention will be key to closing the gap with higher-performing neighbors.