The top reported proficiency rate is 41% in Science. The lowest is 34% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on W B Evans El Sch
W B Evans Elementary is a public school serving kindergarten through sixth grade in Yeadon, a small, densely populated inner-ring borough just outside Philadelphia. The school sits at the historic civic crossroads of Baily Road and Bell Avenue, embedded in a grid of modest stone and brick row homes built between the 1920s and 1950s. Yeadon is an almost entirely residential, walkable community with a predominantly African American population and a strong civic identity; it is the birthplace of Flag Day and home to the Nile Swim Club, a landmark African American institution founded in the 1940s.
The school's enrollment is small, drawn almost entirely from the immediate neighborhood. The student body is predominantly African American, with virtually all families qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic profile of the borough. Special population enrollment counts were not available in the data provided.
State test results for grades three through six show proficiency at a level considerably below what is typical among Delaware County districts. In English language arts, roughly a third of tested students met proficiency standards; in math, performance was similar. Science data from an earlier year showed somewhat higher results but still in a range that a parent may want to explore further with the school, particularly around what instructional support and intervention the school is providing to students not yet meeting grade-level standards. The school is required by new Pennsylvania law to adopt structured literacy curriculum for reading instruction and to screen all K-3 students for reading competency three times per year starting in the 2027-28 school year, which may reshape early literacy instruction here.
Evans is part of the William Penn School District, which serves six small boroughs: Aldan, Colwyn, Darby, East Lansdowne, Lansdowne, and Yeadon. The district has been in sustained financial strain and was the lead plaintiff in a landmark 2023 state court case declaring Pennsylvania's school-funding system unconstitutional. While the ruling triggered a multi-billion-dollar statewide funding overhaul with dedicated money flowing to William Penn, the district remains under acute budget pressure. For the 2025-26 school year, the board enacted a significant property tax increase and simultaneously cut central office positions, eliminated mental health support staff, removed academic interventionists from elementary schools, and imposed a hiring freeze. During the state budget impasse, the district discontinued all non-athletic after-school extracurriculars and at one point warned it could sustain operations only through the end of January 2026 if state funds were not released. These cuts directly affect in-school support for students while raising homeowner property taxes across all six boroughs.
The housing market in Yeadon reflects modest stability with slow appreciation. Home values are below both state and national benchmarks, and rents are relatively affordable by regional standards. The borough is essentially built out with little new residential construction; growth appears through turnover and reinvestment of the existing housing stock rather than greenfield development. Population has held roughly steady for decades. Residents are overwhelmingly commuters; daytime population drops substantially as workers leave for jobs in Philadelphia and surrounding areas.
A family choosing Evans should understand that the school sits within a district operating under real structural fiscal constraints, with property tax increases and service reductions unfolding in parallel. The school's test performance is a soft spot worth discussing directly with staff about what reading and math interventions exist, how they are staffed given recent cuts, and what families can expect for their child's learning pathway through the elementary grades. At the same time, the school is a neighborhood anchor in a walkable, stable, close-knit community with good transit access, and it serves families whose roots and economic circumstances are locally grounded.
See more original research from School Decision →