Defranco El Sch, Bangor PA - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Defranco El Sch

DeFranco Elementary serves grades five and six in Bangor, a small slate-country borough in Northampton County where the school sits on a campus outside the downtown core. The school enrolls a mix of students from Bangor, East Bangor, Portland, Roseto, and nearby townships. About half of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and the student body is predominantly white with smaller shares of Hispanic, multiracial, and other backgrounds. Data on special-education and English-learner enrollment were not provided.

On the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment, DeFranco's students posted proficiency rates just above the half-mark in both math and English language arts on the most recent results. The school's performance in this metric places it in the top quartile among districts across Northampton County when proficiency is indexed across tested subjects and grades. Science results from an earlier year showed stronger performance. Neither average scale scores nor participation rates were available. Because DeFranco teaches only grades five through six, it has no graduation rate and no chronic-absenteeism data.

The school's peer group is the district itself. Bangor Area School District, which encompasses several small boroughs and townships across roughly seven towns, has seen sustained property-tax pressure tied to charter-school tuition costs, pension obligations, and contractual salary growth. A millage increase was adopted in 2021-22, and that structural dynamic has continued to shape household tax bills in the communities the district serves.

Bangor itself is a walkable historic community anchored by a compact downtown with locally owned shops, pubs, and seasonal events. The slate industry that once defined the region has faded, leaving the borough as a quiet residential place where housing prices remain lower than the surrounding Lehigh Valley. Recent years have brought infill development and historic-building conversions rather than large-scale new construction. The borough participates in regional revitalization planning and sits about a short drive from larger employment centers in Easton and Allentown.

For families choosing among elementary schools in the district, DeFranco offers a traditional neighborhood school model in a small town setting with mid-range academic proficiency. A parent may want to look into the school's approach to reading and math instruction, given the proficiency rates, and to understand how the school supports students in closing proficiency gaps.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grades 3-853%

School 53% · District 51% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 10 pts above state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

English language arts

Grades 3-850%

School 50% · District 55% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Science

Grade 482%

School 82% · district not reported

▼ 5 pts below state median

This schoolBangor Area SD, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 3Lower-income66%Higher-income69%3 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income63%Higher-income81%18 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income68%Higher-income67%1 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income42%Higher-income70%28 pp gap