Summary:
Zip code 19956, covering the Laurel, Delaware area, is served by a single high school, Laurel Senior High School, which enrolls 753 students in grades 9-12 as part of the Laurel School District.
For parents considering this area, the most important takeaway is that Laurel Senior High School is facing significant academic challenges, though there are some signs of progress. The school consistently ranks in the bottom quartile of Delaware high schools, earning just 1 star in each of the past three school years, though it did improve from 36th to 31st place between 2023-2024 and 2025-2026. The graduation rate stands at 79.4%, which is 9.5 percentage points below the state average, while the dropout rate of 8.0% is more than double the state's 3.9%. Chronic absenteeism is a major concern, with 27.2% of students missing significant school time—far exceeding both the district average of 18.7% and the state average of 17.1%. Test scores lag state averages across every subject, with the most alarming gap in mathematics: only 4.76% of 11th graders were proficient on the SAT in 2025-2026, compared to 18.16% statewide. This means roughly 1 in 20 students meets math proficiency standards, which is a critical weakness.
Encouragingly, the school showed year-over-year improvement in most subjects between 2024-2025 and 2025-2026. Essay proficiency jumped dramatically from 18.12% to 31.53%, and science improved from 11.51% to 20.63%. ELA and math also saw modest gains, though social studies declined from 15.53% to 11.02%. The student-teacher ratio is 18.3:1, and per-student spending was $12,283 in 2018-2019, which does not appear to translate into competitive outcomes. Since Laurel Senior High School is the only high school in the district, school and district metrics are identical. For parents, the priorities should be addressing chronic absenteeism and the severe math proficiency gap, while recognizing that targeted interventions may be starting to yield results in other subjects.
Thank you for your feedback!