This article was originally published in The Notebook. In August 2020, The Notebook became Chalkbeat Philadelphia.
While the school profiles provide a lot of detail about the 88 public high schools and their programs, here we provide statistics about their students and how they are performing. That is important information as you think about where to attend high school.
Below, you’ll find data about all the District-run high schools and charters.
The first four columns of numbers in each table tell you about each school’s student body. What’s the enrollment and do they serve large percentages of low-income and special education students and English language learners?
Student attendance is often a good indicator of how engaged students are. Keep in mind that a school with 90 percent attendance has twice as many students absent as one with 95 percent attendance. One good measure of school climate is the percentage of students with at least one suspension.
Average SAT scores indicate how well the school prepares students for the test required for college admission. We leave out schools where fewer than 25 students take the test, but these averages can be misleading if mainly high-performing students take the test. Nationally, average student SAT scores, both reading and math, hover around 500. SAT test results are highly correlated with poverty rates.
Check out on-time high school graduation rates and what percent of each school’s graduates are directly going to college. There are big variations among schools on these indicators.
And for District schools with CTE programs, look at how students did on their NOCTI competency tests.
Note: (Four recently opened schools are not included; no performance data is available: Science Leadership Academy @ Beeber, Building 21, the LINC, and the U School.
Key to data for District schools
• Schools that serve grades other than 9-12 are noted with grade span – data are for the entire school.
• Enrollment and demographic data are for 2014-15. Source: School District of Philadelphia website.
• Attendance data are for 2013-14. SAT scores are for the class of 2014. Source: Pa. Department of Education website. NA indicates no data available.
* indicates fewer than 25 students took the SAT.
• Suspension, graduation, and college-going rates are for 2013-14. Source: School Progress Reports, School District of Philadelphia.
• Graduation rates: the number of 4-year graduates compared to the size of the original cohort in 9th grade, adjusted for students who transferred in and out. Students are attributed to the last school they attended. NA indicates no graduating class.
• College-going rates: The percentage of 2014 high school graduates entering college in fall 2014. NA indicates no graduating class.
• NOCTI pass rates: The percentage of students passing CTE competency exams (see p. 7), and total number of students taking the exams in all subject areas, 2014-15. Not all schools offer CTE programs. Source: School District of Philadelphia.
Key to data for the charter schools
• Schools that serve grades other than 9-12 are noted with grade span – data are for the entire school.
• † indicates Renaissance neighborhood charter school. Admission is guaranteed to students in school catchment area.
• Enrollment, demographic, and attendance data are for 2013-14. Source: Pa. Department of Education website.
• SAT scores are for the class of 2014. NA indicates no data available. * indicates fewer than 25 students took the SAT. Source: Pa. Department of Education.
• Suspension, graduation, and college-going rates are for 2013-14. Source: School Progress Reports, School District of Philadelphia. NR indicates school did not report its data in these District reports. NA indicates data was not available.
• Graduation rates: the number of 4-year graduates compared to the size of the original cohort in 9th grade, adjusted for students who transferred in and out. Students are attributed to the last school they attended. NA indicates no graduating class.
• College-going rates: The percentage of 2014 high school graduates entering college in fall 2014. NA indicates no graduating class.