Middle Schools in Cape Henlopen School District

The Cape Henlopen School District in Delaware is home to two middle schools: Mariner Middle School and Beacon Middle School. While both schools serve students in grades 6-8, Beacon Middle School stands out as the top performer in the district, consistently ranking among the best middle schools in the state.

Beacon Middle School is ranked 5th out of 54 middle schools in Delaware, with a 5-star rating from SchoolDigger. The school consistently outperforms the district and state averages on standardized test scores across all grade levels and subject areas. For example, in 2023-2024, 69.14% of 6th graders at Beacon were proficient or better in ELA, compared to 56.34% for the district and 38.39% for the state. In contrast, Mariner Middle School is ranked 17th in the state, with lower test scores and a higher chronic absenteeism rate of 26.3% compared to Beacon's 29.9%.

While both schools have relatively high chronic absenteeism rates, the significant gap in academic performance between Beacon Middle School and Mariner Middle School suggests that there may be opportunities for Mariner to learn from the practices and strategies employed at Beacon. Additionally, the differences in student demographics, with Beacon having a higher percentage of White students and Mariner having a more diverse student population, may be an important factor to consider when analyzing the schools' performance and identifying potential areas for improvement.