The top reported proficiency rate is 12% in Social studies. The lowest is 6% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Richardson Park Elementary School
Richardson Park Elementary School sits on Idella Avenue in Wilmington, serving kindergarten through fifth grade as part of the Red Clay Consolidated School District. It is a regular public school with an enrollment large enough to fill six grade sections, and its student body is predominantly Hispanic, with Black and White students forming the next largest groups. The school's demographic mix reflects the surrounding area in western Wilmington, an older residential part of a city that functions as Delaware's corporate and financial hub.
Wilmington is the state's largest city, a place where national banks, insurance companies, and chemical-industry descendants like DuPont and Corteva shape the economy. The downtown core and the revitalized Riverfront carry the cultural and commercial energy, but Richardson Park sits in a quieter residential pocket away from that density. Housing in the school's zip code is modest relative to both the state and national benchmarks, with typical home values well below the Delaware median and rents that sit lower than what a monthly mortgage would cost at current interest rates. That affordability gap between renting and owning is wide, which may matter to families deciding whether to rent short-term or commit to buying into the attendance zone. The area has transit access through Wilmington Station and I-95, and the broader city is in an active planning cycle with its Wilmington 2028 initiative.
Academically, the state assessment results for Richardson Park are low across every tested subject. On the Smarter Balanced assessment, the proportion of students scoring proficient or above in math and English language arts sits in the single digits, and science proficiency is even lower. Social studies, tested at fourth grade, shows a somewhat higher share reaching proficiency but remains low. The multi-year trend makes clear this is not a recent dip alone. English language arts proficiency was in the mid-twenties range before the pandemic, fell sharply in the years following, and has not recovered to pre-pandemic levels. Math tells a similar story, with proficiency declining from the high teens into single-digit territory and remaining there in recent years. When measured against other schools and districts in New Castle County, Richardson Park's overall proficiency lands in the bottom quartile. A parent looking at these numbers may want to ask the school directly what improvement strategies are in place and how the district is supporting growth at this building.
Several data points that would help round out the picture are missing. Free and reduced-price lunch rates, special education enrollment, and English-learner counts were not available, so it is hard to characterize the full range of student needs the school is serving. Discipline data, staffing levels, attendance and chronic absenteeism figures, and program offerings such as gifted services or extracurriculars were not reported, so those dimensions cannot be described here. The school does not have a graduation rate, which is expected since it serves only elementary grades and does not feed directly into a graduating cohort.
At the district level, Red Clay is undertaking a substantial change on its secondary side. Thomas McKean High School is being transformed into the McKean Innovation Campus, scheduled to open in August 2027, with a focus on industry-recognized credentials and applied learning. That does not affect Richardson Park directly, but it signals a district actively restructuring its upper-grade options, which families with younger children may want to track as their students approach middle and high school.
Richardson Park is a school serving a diverse student population in an affordable part of a city with strong economic anchors and transit connections. Its academic results are low and have been for several years, which is the central fact a family weighing this school will need to engage with. The missing data on student needs, staffing, and programs means a parent would be well served by visiting the school, talking with leadership, and asking directly about what supports and interventions are in place for the children currently enrolled.
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