1
Enrollment
1,318
Middle
DISTRICT 476 · STATE 594
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·PHILADELPHIA CITY SD·NCES 421899003836
Castor Gardens Middle School
1800 Cottman Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19111 · (215) 400-3190 · Philadelphia County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE11-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL1,318 STUDENTS
C-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 17% of Pennsylvania public middle schools
- DTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- CBeats 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 middle schools
Student : Teacher
16.9:1
78 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.3:1 · STATE 13.2:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
96%
1,269 students
DISTRICT 99% · STATE 75%
Community
1
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other middle schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 403 | 31% |
| Grade 7 | 466 | 35% |
| Grade 8 | 449 | 34% |
Student demographics
71%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 71% · 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
Test scores
PSSA + Keystone 2024-25 . % Proficient or AdvancedEnglish Language Arts
31.1%
PA avg 51.1% . -0.1pp since 2023
Math
18.8%
PA avg 43.0% . +1.8pp since 2023
What this means: On the PSSA + Keystone, Pennsylvania's statewide test, about 31 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 19 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Pennsylvania schools, those numbers are about 51 and 43. Reading and writing scores have held steady since 2023, while math scores are up about 2 points.
PSSA + Keystone results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 31.1% | 18.8% |
| 2023-24 | 31.2% | 17.0% |
% 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
25.2%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
36.3%
based on PA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-11.2pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 25% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 36% 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 Castor Gardens Middle School
Castor Gardens Middle School's state test result (25.2% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Castor Gardens Middle School this school | 1,318 | 96.3% | 25.2% |
| Central Dauphin East Middle School Harrisburg | 702 | 94.4% | 27.5% |
| South Scranton Intrmd School Scranton | 798 | 97.9% | 18.4% |
| Easton Area Middle School Easton | 1,879 | 99.8% | 31.8% |
| Wheatland Middle School Lancaster | 453 | 85.2% | 22.4% |
| Linglestown Middle School Harrisburg | 841 | 96.9% | 43.4% |
Matched among Pennsylvania middle 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 Castor Gardens Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Pennsylvania | In Philadelphia County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 25.2% | #435 of 479 | #4 of 10 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 18.8% | #415 of 513 ▲ 17 | #4 of 18 no change |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 31.1% | #439 of 513 ▲ 13 | #4 of 18 ▲ 2 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 1,318 | #12 of 522 | #2 of 18 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 16.9:1 | #462 of 486 | #12 of 13 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 71.2% | #14 of 486 | #1 of 13 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 96.3% | #128 of 510 | #15 of 18 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -0.1% | #332 of 332 | #14 of 14 |
Ranked against other public middle 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
1,318
-67 (-5%) vs 2020
+20% since 1990-91, when it was 1,098
Student : Teacher
16.9:1
was 27.7:1
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 | 1,318 | 78.2 | 16.9:1 | 96% (1,269) |
| 2023-24 | 1,269 | 71.4 | 17.8:1 | 100% (1,269) |
| 2022-23 | 1,260 | 72.6 | 17.4:1 | 100% (1,260) |
| 2020-21 | 1,385 | 50 | 27.7:1 | 100% (1,382) |
| 2017-18 | 1,319 | 73.2 | 18.0:1 | 100% (1,317) |
| 2015-16 | 1,178 | 53 | 22.2:1 | 100% (1,178) |
| 2010-11 | 1,244 | 64 | 19.4:1 | 72% (896) |
| 2000-01 | 1,286 | 72 | 17.9:1 | 39% (499) |
| 1990-91 | 1,098 | 67 | 16.4:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Castor Gardens Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students unchanged (1,319 to 1,318); teachers up 7% (73.2 to 78.2).
About Castor Gardens Middle School
This page covers Castor Gardens Middle School, a large middle school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Enrollment in 2024-25 was 1,318 students in grades 6 through 8. Against the 594-student average for middle schools in Pennsylvania, enrollment here is 122% higher.
Philadelphia City SD runs Castor Gardens Middle School along with 219 other schools, enrolling 116,230 students in total.
Castor Gardens Middle School's enrollment has no majority group, and Hispanic students are the largest at 42%. It is also 23% Black, 20% Asian, 11% White, and 3% multiracial. Philadelphia County's residents are about 16% Hispanic, 27 points below the school's share. By the diversity index, Castor Gardens Middle School comes in at 71%.
Federal staffing data show 78.2 full-time-equivalent teachers at Castor Gardens Middle School and a ratio of 16.9:1. That ratio is over the 13.2:1 average for middle schools in Pennsylvania. Free or reduced-price lunch eligibility covers 96% of students. Across public schools in Philadelphia County, the average is about the same, 95%.
Castor Gardens Middle School is graded C- by allk12, scoring above 17% of Pennsylvania public middle schools once test results, poverty-adjusted performance, and the recent trend are combined.
Castor Gardens Middle School posts an average proficiency rate on state tests of 25.2%, compared with a predicted 36.3%. It is not in the top or bottom 10% of Pennsylvania schools on BeatsExpectations.
County data help place the school in context: in Philadelphia County, median household income is about $61,953, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 35%, and roughly 17% of residents are in poverty. Castor Gardens Middle School is among the 309 public schools in Philadelphia County.
The next-closest public school is Northeast High School, about 0.3 miles away. In all, at least 8 other public schools sit within five miles of Castor Gardens Middle School. Its average proficiency rate of 25.2% is below the 29.7% average for nearby schools.
The school is inside a principal city with a population of 250,000 or more, according to its NCES locale (City: Large).
The number of students dropped from 1,385 to 1,318 over 4 years. The number of students per teacher fell from 27.7 to 16.9 over 4 years.
To ask about school safety, transportation, and start times, start a discussion on this page. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.
Philadelphia County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
1,579,706
Census ACS
Median income
$61,953
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
35%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
17%
Below federal line
Schools in county
309
182,005 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Philadelphia City SD
- Northeast High SchoolHigh · 3,463 students
- Lincoln High SchoolHigh · 2,472 students
- Central High SchoolHigh · 2,329 students
- Northeast Community Propel AcademyElementary · 1,783 students
- Mayfair SchoolElementary · 1,763 students
- Washington George High SchoolHigh · 1,755 students
Other schools in Philadelphia
- Northeast High SchoolHigh · 3,463 students
- Philadelphia Performing Arts CSCombined · 2,572 students
- Lincoln High SchoolHigh · 2,472 students
- Central High SchoolHigh · 2,329 students
- MaST Community CS IICombined · 1,875 students
- First Philadelphia Preparatory CSCombined · 1,831 students
Nearby schools
- Northeast High School0.3 mi · 3,463
- Moore J Hampton School0.5 mi · 1,192
- Solis-Cohen Solomon School0.6 mi · 1,350
- Rhawnhurst School0.7 mi · 621
- Crossan Kennedy C School0.9 mi · 327
- Tacony Academy CS1.0 mi · 1,083
Frequently asked questions
About Castor Gardens Middle SchoolHow large is Castor Gardens Middle School?
Castor Gardens Middle School enrolls approximately 1,318 students in grades 06-08.
Is Castor Gardens Middle School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Castor Gardens Middle School is a middle school covering grades 06-08.
How many teachers does Castor Gardens Middle School have?
Castor Gardens Middle School employs 78 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 16.9:1.
How diverse is Castor Gardens Middle School?
Castor Gardens Middle School reports a student body of 11% White, 42% Hispanic, 23% Black, 20% Asian, 3% Two or more.
Who oversees Castor Gardens Middle School?
Castor Gardens Middle School is overseen by Philadelphia City SD in Philadelphia County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.