The top reported proficiency rate is 43% in English language arts. The lowest is 20% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Downes (john R.) Elementary School
John R. Downes Elementary School sits on Casho Mill Road in Newark, Delaware, serving kindergarten through fifth grade as part of the Christina School District. It is a regular public school, neither a charter nor a magnet, drawing from a community shaped heavily by the University of Delaware. Newark's identity revolves around the university. Main Street runs alongside the campus and functions as the city's commercial and social corridor, with student-oriented businesses, established residential neighborhoods, and civic offices all clustered in that downtown-campus zone. Outside that core, the city is largely car-dependent, with most households relying on two vehicles and commuting alone to work. The surrounding area has shifted from farmland to housing developments over the years, though open agricultural land remains just across the Maryland and Pennsylvania borders. The city maintains an extensive park system with dozens of parks and miles of trails, and SEPTA and Amtrak serve the Newark Rail Station on the Northeast Corridor, giving residents commuter rail access.
Downes serves a moderately sized elementary enrollment spread across its six grade levels. The student body is racially diverse, with white students forming the largest group, followed by Black and Hispanic students, with smaller Asian and multiracial populations. Economic data typically used to gauge community need, such as free- or reduced-price lunch counts, was not available in the records we reviewed, so we cannot speak to the income profile of enrolled families. The same gap applies to special-population measures: IEP and English-learner rates were not reported. A parent wanting a full picture of student support services may want to ask the school directly about those figures.
On state assessments, Downes shows a mixed academic profile. In the most recent year, English language arts proficiency sat below half of tested students, and math was lower still. Science proficiency was notably weaker, with only a small fraction of tested students reaching proficiency. A social studies result from the prior year landed in a middle range. When positioned relative to districts in New Castle County, Downes's overall proficiency index lands above the midpoint, suggesting that while its absolute numbers may not jump out, the school performs reasonably compared with peers in the county.
The longer trend tells a more sobering story. Going back nearly a decade, both ELA and math proficiency at Downes were markedly higher, generally in the upper range, before dropping sharply during the pandemic year and the period that followed. Math has not returned to its pre-pandemic levels and has drifted downward again in the most recent two years. ELA followed a similar arc, with a partial post-pandemic recovery that has since faded. A parent considering this school may want to look into what academic recovery efforts are underway and how the school is responding to the sustained decline.
Because Downes serves only elementary grades, there is no graduation rate to report, and the school does not have high-school-level course access data. Chronic absenteeism data was also not available in the records reviewed. The Christina School District itself is undergoing a fiscal shift. Following a county-wide property reassessment, the district's tax base rose substantially, and under state law the district plans to increase total tax receipts while reducing the nominal tax rate. This restructuring will affect what homeowners pay annually and is worth understanding for families buying into the area.
Housing in the school's zip code sits above both state and national benchmarks for typical home values, and rents have been climbing at a faster clip than home prices year over year. The estimated monthly mortgage on a typical home exceeds local rent by a modest margin, and both options absorb a meaningful share of household income relative to national norms. For families weighing the area, the housing market reflects Newark's position as a desirable university-adjacent community with established neighborhoods and good transit connections, balanced against costs that run above the state average. Downes offers a diverse peer environment in a walkable, education-anchored town, with academic results that have softened over time and warrant a closer conversation with the school.
See more original research from School Decision →