Enrollment
193
High
STATE 738
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CAPITAL AREA SCHOOL FOR THE ARTS CS·NCES 420087607493
Capital Area School for the Arts CS
150 Strawberry Square, Harrisburg, PA 17101 · (717) 732-8450 · Dauphin County
GRADES 09–12HIGH13-CITYCHARTERREGULAR SCHOOL193 STUDENTS
A-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 78% of Pennsylvania public high schools
- ATest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- B-Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Pennsylvania public high schools
Student : Teacher
17.6:1
11 FTE teachers
STATE 12.8:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
6%
11 students
STATE 75%
Community
0
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other high schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 9 | 57 | 30% |
| Grade 10 | 51 | 26% |
| Grade 11 | 42 | 22% |
| Grade 12 | 43 | 22% |
Student demographics
58%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
STATE 59% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
QUIET COMMUNITY
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START A DISCUSSIONTest scores
PSSA + Keystone 2024-25 . % Proficient or AdvancedEnglish Language Arts
84.2%
PA avg 51.1% . -1.2pp since 2023
Math
54.1%
PA avg 43.0% . -12.6pp since 2023
What this means: On the PSSA + Keystone, Pennsylvania's statewide test, about 84 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 54 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Pennsylvania schools, those numbers are about 51 and 43. Reading and writing scores are down about 1 points since 2023, while math scores are down about 13 points.
PSSA + Keystone results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 84.2% | 54.1% |
| 2023-24 | 85.4% | 66.7% |
% Proficient or Advanced, all students and all tested grades.
Source: PSSA + Keystone. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
73.3%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
75.2%
based on PA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-1.9pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 73% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 75% typical for Pennsylvania schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Pennsylvania's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like Capital Area School for the Arts CS
Capital Area School for the Arts CS's state test result (73.3% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital Area School for the Arts CS this school | 193 | 5.7% | 73.3% |
| Camp Hill SHS Camp Hill | 400 | 18.3% | 73.6% |
| New Hope-Solebury High School New Hope | 450 | 15.6% | 83.0% |
| Jenkintown Middle/High School Jenkintown | 329 | 26.4% | 57.2% |
| Fairfield Area High School Fairfield | 277 | 24.9% | 43.9% |
| Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts Bethlehem | 550 | 25.3% | 64.8% |
Matched among Pennsylvania high schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Capital Area School for the Arts CS ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Pennsylvania | In Dauphin County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 73.3% | #50 of 576 | #2 of 14 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 54.1% | #169 of 626 ▼ 114 | #3 of 15 ▼ 2 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 84.2% | #42 of 626 ▲ 6 | #2 of 15 no change |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 193 | #608 of 713 | #15 of 16 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 5.7% | #617 of 619 | #14 of 14 |
Ranked against other public high schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
193
-1 (-1%) vs 2020
Student : Teacher
17.6:1
was 13.9:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 193 | 11 | 17.6:1 | 6% (11) |
| 2023-24 | 168 | 14.6 | 11.6:1 | 7% (11) |
| 2022-23 | 186 | 13.5 | 13.8:1 | N/A |
| 2020-21 | 194 | 14 | 13.9:1 | 3% (5) |
| 2017-18 | 199 | 14 | 14.2:1 | N/A |
| 2015-16 | 187 | 12 | 15.6:1 | 18% (33) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Capital Area School for the Arts CS.
Since 2017-18: students down 3% (199 to 193); teachers down 21% (14 to 11).
About Capital Area School for the Arts CS
A very small high school in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Capital Area School for the Arts CS is part of Capital Area School for the Arts CS. It has an enrollment of 193 students in grades 9 through 12. On average, high schools in Pennsylvania enroll around 738, and this school is 74% below that mark.
Capital Area School for the Arts CS is its own local education agency in federal data.
The student body at Capital Area School for the Arts CS is 61% White. The school is also 18% Black, 15% Hispanic, 5% multiracial, and 2% Asian. Among Dauphin County residents, the White share is about 63%. Its diversity index, the chance that two randomly chosen students belong to different racial or ethnic groups, is 58%.
Capital Area School for the Arts CS reports a ratio of 17.6 students per teacher, from 11 full-time-equivalent teachers. Across high schools in Pennsylvania, the average ratio is 12.8:1. Lunch program data show 6% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price meals. The gap from the 59% average for public schools in Dauphin County is 53 points.
On the allk12 Grade, Capital Area School for the Arts CS lands at A-, ahead of 78% of Pennsylvania public high schools.
Capital Area School for the Arts CS posts an average proficiency rate across its state test results of 73.3%, compared with a predicted 75.2%. It is not in the top or bottom 10% of Pennsylvania schools on BeatsExpectations.
In Dauphin County, home to about 289,593 people, the median household earns about $76,242 a year, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 34% of adults, and the poverty rate is about 9%. Capital Area School for the Arts CS shares Dauphin County with 74 other public schools.
Capital Area School for the Arts CS is about 0.1 miles from Harrisburg HS - SciTech Cmp, its nearest public school. There are at least 8 other public schools within five miles. Capital Area School for the Arts CS ranks 1st of 6 among nearby schools on average proficiency, with 73.3% against a local average of 25.0%.
Federal records code the school's setting as City: Small. Capital Area School for the Arts CS is a charter school, a type of public school that operates under a charter.
In 2020-21, Capital Area School for the Arts CS enrolled 194; in 2024-25, 193. Its ratio of students to teachers was 13.9:1 in 2020-21, and 17.6:1 in 2024-25.
This community page is for conversations about fundraisers, report cards, and school supplies. Teachers and staff are welcome to share updates too.
Dauphin County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
289,593
Census ACS
Median income
$76,242
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
34%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
9%
Below federal line
Schools in county
75
72,718 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Harrisburg
- Commonwealth Charter Academy CSCombined · 29,320 students
- Reach Cyber CSCombined · 5,721 students
- Central Dauphin SHSHigh · 1,966 students
- Central Dauphin East SHSHigh · 1,573 students
- Harrisburg High SchoolHigh · 1,343 students
- Dauphin County Technical SchoolHigh · 1,187 students
Nearby schools
- Harrisburg HS - SciTech Cmp0.1 mi · 347
- Benjamin Franklin School0.6 mi · 678
- Pennsylvania STEAM Academy CS0.8 mi · 360
- Downey School1.0 mi · 405
- Scott at Lincoln School1.0 mi · 484
- Cougar Academy1.1 mi · 300
Frequently asked questions
About Capital Area School for the Arts CSHow many students attend Capital Area School for the Arts CS?
Capital Area School for the Arts CS enrolls approximately 193 students in grades 09-12.
What grades does Capital Area School for the Arts CS serve?
Capital Area School for the Arts CS serves grades 09-12.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Capital Area School for the Arts CS?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Capital Area School for the Arts CS is approximately 17.6:1 (11 FTE teachers).
How diverse is Capital Area School for the Arts CS?
Capital Area School for the Arts CS reports a student body of 61% White, 15% Hispanic, 18% Black, 2% Asian, 5% Two or more.
Who oversees Capital Area School for the Arts CS?
Capital Area School for the Arts CS is overseen by Capital Area School for the Arts CS in Dauphin County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.