Summary:
Zip code 19939, located in Dagsboro, Delaware, is served by a single high school, Indian River High School, which enrolls 1,073 students in grades 9-12 and is part of the Indian River School District, a top-10 district in the state.
For parents, the most important takeaway is that Indian River High School is a well-resourced school with clear academic strengths, but it is currently facing some challenges. The school excels in writing, with 51.85% of 11th graders proficient on the SAT Essay—nearly 9 points above the state average and 14 points above its own district. Science is another bright spot, with 27.03% proficiency on the DeSSA, beating the state by 3.13 points. However, math is a critical weakness: only 15.64% of students are proficient, which is 2.52 points below the state average. The school also saw sharp year-over-year declines in both ELA (-9.53 points) and math (-4.96 points) on the SAT, coinciding with its state ranking dropping from 7th (83rd percentile) to 14th (66th percentile) over two years. Despite this, the school still outperforms its district in every subject by 5 to 14 points, making it the academic anchor of the Indian River School District.
One of the most pressing concerns is chronic absenteeism, which sits at 25.5%—significantly higher than the district (20.2%) and state (17.1%) averages. This likely contributes to the declining test scores. The graduation rate is solid at 89.3%, slightly above the state average, though the dropout rate of 4.7% is higher than the state's 3.9%. With a favorable student-teacher ratio of 13.2:1 and per-student spending of $17,433, the school has ample resources. The key to reversing the downward trend will be addressing attendance and math proficiency, which could help the school regain its former top-10 status.
Thank you for your feedback!