Schools in Zip Code 19940

Zip code 19940 in Delmar, Delaware, is served by two public schools within the Delmar School District: Delmar Middle School (grades 5-8, 732 students) and Delmar High School (grades 9-12, 713 students), with no elementary schools located directly in the zip code.

The standout story here is Delmar High School's dramatic turnaround. In just one year, the school jumped from the 34th to the 61st percentile in state rankings, with 11th-grade ELA proficiency soaring from 36.99% to 49.69% (now above the state average) and math improving from 13.7% to 19.02%. This improvement contrasts sharply with Delmar Middle School, which sits at the 53rd percentile and shows a troubling "8th-grade cliff"—social studies proficiency plummets from 61.5% in 7th grade to 28.42% in 8th grade, and science falls to just 11.76%. The middle school's math scores (23-32% proficiency) are consistently weak across all grades, while the high school's math (19.02%) barely edges the state average. Notably, the high school outperforms the middle school in ELA, suggesting stronger instructional gains in upper grades.

Despite the high school's academic gains, chronic absenteeism is a major concern at 28.5%—far above the district (22.0%) and state (17.1%) averages, meaning nearly 1 in 3 students are regularly missing class. The middle school fares better at 15.6%. Graduation rates are strong at 93.8% (vs. 88.9% statewide), and the high school spends $1,742 more per student ($11,342 vs. $9,600), which may explain some performance differences. The district's 4-star rating is largely driven by the high school's recent success, masking the middle school's more middling results. For parents, this area offers a high school on an upward trajectory but a middle school with clear subject-area weaknesses, particularly in 8th grade and math, that warrant attention.