Summary:
Discovery Charter School is the only middle school in this list, located in Newark and serving grades 4–8, with 99 students. Its latest results vary considerably by grade and subject, and no other school in the area is available for comparison. Most importantly, average ELA proficiency fell from 68% in 2024–2025 to 47% in 2025–2026, leaving the school 4 points below the matched state average.
Grade 8 math is the school’s clearest standout: 56% of students were proficient, compared with 23% statewide, a 33-point advantage. Grade 7 had the strongest current ELA result at 65%, though it was below the state’s 56% by the reported grade comparison. The clearest shortfalls were grade 6 math, at 28% versus 40% statewide (12 points lower), and grade 8 science, at 11% versus 19% (8 points lower). Science also differs sharply by grade: grade 5 reached 32%, 4 points above the state, while grade 8 was below it.
Results have shifted substantially over time: ELA proficiency declined in every tested grade, and the school’s position changed from 13 points above the state average in 2024–2025 to 4 points below in 2025–2026. Math’s overall average stayed nearly level, but grade 8’s strength contrasts with below-state results in grades 4–7; science also moved from 2 points above to 2 points below the state average. SchoolDigger’s ranking fell from the 71st percentile in 2024–2025 to the 53rd in 2025–2026, with ranks of 218 of 752 and 350 of 743, respectively. Other context includes a 15.8 student–teacher ratio and 85% free/reduced lunch eligible in 2024–2025; chronic absenteeism was 15% versus 14% statewide that year.
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