The top reported proficiency rate is 26% in English language arts. The lowest is 12% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Laurel Elementary School
Laurel Elementary School serves first through sixth graders in the town of Laurel, in southern Sussex County. It is a regular public school and the larger of the district's elementary-grade buildings, with an enrollment that runs high for a school covering this grade band. The student body is racially diverse. White students form the largest single group, though they do not make up a majority, and Black and Hispanic students each account for a substantial share. Smaller numbers of multiracial, Asian, and American Indian students round out the enrollment. The school sits on South Central Avenue, within a town that was laid out along Broad Creek in the 1790s and still carries the imprint of that old grid-based center.
On state assessments, Laurel Elementary's results are low and have been for several years. In the most recent round of Smarter Balanced testing, roughly a quarter of students reached proficiency in English language arts, and about a fifth did so in math. Science proficiency was lower still, with only a small fraction of tested students clearing the bar. Social studies results from the prior year were mixed: fourth-grade proficiency was quite low, while sixth-grade proficiency came in meaningfully higher. Taken together, the school's overall proficiency index places it below the midpoint among districts in Sussex County.
The trend data tells a story of a pandemic shock followed by an incomplete recovery. Before the disruption, ELA proficiency sat well above where it is now, and math was markedly higher. Both subjects dropped sharply in the spring of 2021, rebounded partially the following year, and have since drifted sideways. The current results sit well below the school's own pre-pandemic baseline, and there is no clear upward momentum in the most recent years. A parent weighing this school may want to ask what academic recovery efforts are underway and how the staff is responding to the prolonged plateau.
Several data points that would help a parent round out the picture are missing. Free and reduced-price lunch counts were not reported, so the economic need of the student population cannot be characterized from the available figures. Special-education and English-learner rates are also absent. Because the school stops at sixth grade, there is no graduation rate to report; that metric simply does not apply here. Chronic absenteeism data was not available, and the neighbor comparison could not place the school on that measure. Program offerings, staffing details, discipline data, and course access information were not provided, so questions about enrichment, support services, or extracurriculars would need to go directly to the district.
The town of Laurel is small and historically rooted in farming, lumbering, and trade, having served as a regional trading center connected by water and rail. Roads are the primary way people get around, with Route 13 as the main highway. A DART bus line connects Laurel to Delmar and Georgetown. Publicly reported sources describe a community with a young population and a high proportion of households with children, which suggests steady family-driven demand for housing and schools. The town's official vision points toward new residential neighborhoods and commercial development, though specific projects were not identified in the available research. Median household income in the town is low, and a notable share of residents live below the poverty line. We looked for recent district-level changes such as referendums, curriculum overhauls, or policy shifts and found little of lasting impact on record, so that thread is left out rather than guessed at.
Housing in the school's zip code is modestly priced relative to both state and national benchmarks, and the price-to-income ratio sits below what many families face in higher-cost areas. Rent data was not available. Estimated monthly ownership costs are manageable on paper, though current mortgage rates add pressure. For a family already in or drawn to the Laurel area, the affordability of housing may be part of the appeal.
What this school offers is a diverse peer environment in a small-town setting with relatively accessible housing. The academic results, though, are a central consideration. They are low, they have been low for several years, and the trajectory has been flat. Families considering Laurel Elementary would do well to visit, ask about instruction and intervention, and get a direct read on how the school is working to move its numbers.
See more original research from School Decision →