The top reported proficiency rate is 16% in English language arts. The lowest is 3% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Edison (thomas A.) Charter School
Edison (Thomas A.) Charter School sits on North Locust Street in Wilmington, serving students from kindergarten through eighth grade. As an independent charter school operating as its own district, it draws families from across the city rather than from a single attendance zone. The school's enrollment is sizable for its grade band, and its student body is almost entirely Black, with only a small handful of students from other racial backgrounds. Data on free or reduced-price lunch eligibility, special education rates, and English learner status was not available, so the economic and linguistic profile of the student body cannot be characterized here. The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report. That is expected for a K-through-eight institution and does not reflect a gap in performance.
Wilmington is Delaware's largest city and its corporate, financial, and governmental center. The downtown core is compact and grid-patterned, with national banks, law firms, and state offices concentrated there. The city's economy was historically rooted in chemical manufacturing and has shifted toward banking and finance, and many Fortune companies are incorporated in Delaware. The Riverfront area has been redeveloped from former industrial and shipyard land into a newer civic gathering space with restaurants and cultural venues. Wilmington Train Station provides Amtrak and SEPTA service to Philadelphia, and I-95 bisects the city. Housing in the school's zip code sits well below both state and national benchmarks for typical home values, and rents are also on the lower end. This is an urban setting with strong transit and employment anchors but also with the economic pressures common to older industrial cities.
The academic picture at Edison is a concern. Current state assessment results show very low proficiency across all tested subjects. English language arts proficiency sits in the mid-teens, math proficiency is in the high single digits, and science proficiency is lower still. Social studies results, reported by grade, show proficiency rising from single digits in fourth grade to the high teens by eighth grade, though still low in absolute terms. The school's overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile relative to districts in New Castle County, where the county median sits well above this school's level. A parent may want to look into this further with the school directly, asking what tiered interventions and instructional approaches are in place and how growth is being measured for students working below grade level.
The trend data tells a difficult story. Over roughly the past decade, English language arts proficiency has fallen from the low thirties to the mid-teens, with a sharp drop after the pandemic and only modest recovery since. Math proficiency has declined even more steeply, falling from the low twenties into the high single digits over the same period and showing little sign of rebound. These are not single-year dips. They represent a sustained pattern, and families should weigh that seriously.
There are aspects of the school's recent direction that may appeal to some families. During its 2022 charter renewal before the Delaware Department of Education, the school secured a renewed charter term, confirming its continued operation. As part of that process, the school reduced its enrollment cap, with leadership stating the change would allow for smaller class sizes, stronger tiered intervention support through a multi-tiered systems framework, and dedicated office space for added mental health professionals. The school indicated it was expanding its mental health staffing, which represents a concrete investment in student support. These are structural choices that shape the daily experience inside the building, and they suggest the school is directing resources toward the conditions that affect how children learn.
What the data does not capture is classroom culture, parent involvement, extracurricular offerings, or the quality of relationships between staff and families. Program offerings beyond the core curriculum were not available, and staffing details were absent. Discipline, attendance, and chronic absenteeism data were also missing. A family considering Edison would benefit from visiting the school, asking about the instructional changes tied to the smaller enrollment model, and understanding how the school plans to address the proficiency declines evident in its state results.
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