The top reported proficiency rate is 48% in English language arts. The lowest is 17% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Meredith (everett) Middle School
The school sits on South Broad Street in Middletown, serving grades six through eight as part of the Appoquinimink School District. It is a regular public school, neither a charter nor a magnet. The building itself is freshly built; the district confirms that Everett Meredith Middle School was completely demolished and rebuilt from the ground up, reopening in late August with a brand-new facility replacing a structure that had stood for decades before.
Middletown sits in central New Castle County, historically a crossroads agricultural town centered on the Four Corners intersection of Main Street and Broad Street. Publicly reported sources describe it as the fastest growing area in Delaware, with residential and commercial development expanding outward from a small historic downtown. An Amazon fulfillment center and a Christiana Care free-standing emergency department anchor the modern commercial side, while the town retains its own electric department and police force. The annual Olde Tyme Peach Festival brings visitors to the downtown core each August. Outside that core, the built environment is largely suburban and auto-dependent, with toll highways running along the town's edges. Charles Price Memorial Park offers walking trails, a dog park, and a catch-and-release fishing pond. Housing in the school's zip code sits well above both state and national benchmarks for typical home values, and rents are similarly elevated. The price-to-income ratio suggests a market that may stretch budgets for families moving in, though the town reports lower-than-average unemployment as job opportunities grow alongside population.
The Appoquinimink School District is publicly described as Delaware's fastest-growing, adding students each year and opening new schools to keep pace. Each new school opening triggers feeder pattern revisions, which means families should expect that attendance boundaries may shift over time. The district has built multiple new facilities, including Odessa High School and Crystal Run Elementary, in response to enrollment pressure that once left Middletown High School over capacity.
Enrollment at Meredith is sizable for a middle school, with students distributed fairly evenly across the three grade levels. The student body is racially diverse, with white students forming the largest single group and Black students the second largest, followed by Hispanic, Asian, and multiracial students. The school's economic profile is harder to read from available data: free and reduced-price lunch counts were not reported, and rates for students with individualized education programs and English learners were also missing. A parent evaluating student support services may want to ask the school directly about those populations.
On state assessments, Meredith's results paint a mixed picture. English language arts proficiency sits near the higher end of what the school posts, with roughly half of tested students meeting the bar. Math proficiency is lower, with about a third of students proficient. Science results are the weakest area, with only a small fraction of tested students reaching proficiency. Social studies, assessed separately by grade, shows a larger share of students proficient in both tested grades. Looking across years, ELA proficiency peaked in the mid-2010s and has not returned to those levels since, though it has recovered somewhat from a post-pandemic low. Math has followed a similar arc, declining from earlier levels, dipping sharply during pandemic years, and now climbing back partway. Against the comparison set of districts in New Castle County, Meredith's overall proficiency index lands above the midpoint, a reasonable standing given the range across the county.
Some data a parent might look for was simply not available. Chronic absenteeism figures were not reported for this school. Discipline, course access, and staffing details were absent as well. The school does not have a graduation rate, which is expected because it serves only middle school grades and does not graduate a senior class.
What this adds up to is a growing, diverse middle school in a rapidly developing town, housed in a new building, with literacy results that outpace its math and science scores and a county standing that is solidly above the middle. Families drawn to the Middletown area by housing and jobs should weigh the cost of living against a school that is still rebuilding its academic trajectory after several difficult years.
See more original research from School Decision →