The top reported proficiency rate is 83% in Science. The lowest is 68% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Durham-nockamixon El Sch
Durham-Nockamixon Elementary is a small public school serving grades kindergarten through fifth in Kintnersville, a quiet rural village in upper Bucks County set among farmland, the Delaware River, and Nockamixon State Park. The school sits within the Palisades School District, which covers six municipalities and holds its property taxes at the second-lowest millage rate in the county.
The school enrolls roughly two hundred sixty students. About four in ten qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The student body is predominantly white, with small shares of Hispanic and multiracial students; the school did not report counts for students receiving special education services or learning English as a new language, so those figures are not available.
In academic performance, the school shows strength in mathematics and science. On the most recent state assessment in grades three through five, about three-quarters of students met proficiency in math, and most scored proficient in science on the prior-year test. Reading and language arts proficiency ran somewhat lower, around two-thirds, suggesting math may be a relative strength while literacy skills show room for growth. When ranked against other districts in Bucks County on an overall proficiency measure across tested subjects and grades, the school placed in the top quartile, outperforming the median district significantly.
The Palisades School District has invested in career pathway programs at the high school level, earning national recognition as a School District of Distinction. The district also maintains predictable property tax growth, averaging steady annual increases well below what other county districts levy, which may appeal to families weighing long-term housing costs. This elementary school feeds into a secondary system built, at least at the high school, around intentional career exploration rather than a single academic track.
Kintnersville itself is a rural place. Daily life is car-oriented and centered on state routes and natural amenities—the state park, the canal towpath, hiking trails—rather than a downtown. Median household incomes are relatively high for the region. Housing values in the area have appreciated modestly year over year and sit above both state and national medians, reflecting the rural-Bucks desirability and the scarcity of developable land under the county's farmland preservation easements. Families choosing this school are typically settling into a mature, car-dependent countryside community with strong fiscal discipline in public finance and limited walkable village life.
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