Central El Sch

Set in Allentown, Pennsylvania, Central El Sch is a sizable elementary campus, part of Allentown City SD. It works with 694 students across grades pre-K through 5. That puts it 57% above the typical public school in Pennsylvania, which averages around 443 students.

Allentown City SD runs 23 schools in total, collectively educating 16,674 students. Central El Sch is one of those campuses.

On demographics, Central El Sch records that Hispanic students make up the majority at 72%. Other groups include 12% Black, 11% multiracial, 5% White. That is considerably more Hispanic than the county at large, where the share is closer to 28%.

On the resource side, Central El Sch lists 50 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 13.9:1. That figure is higher than the state norm's 13.1:1 average. An estimated 100% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. Set against Lehigh County (around 70%), the school's rate is somewhat above typical.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), Central El Sch performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 34.5%, the actual is 20.6%, a residual of -13.9 points.

In the broader community, ACS estimates for Lehigh County put median household earnings sit near $80,079, about 34% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 8%. In all, Lehigh County runs 83 public schools (combined enrollment of about 56,984 students), of which Central El Sch is one.

Brigadier General Anna Mae Hays El Sch is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.5 miles from this campus. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Among the 7 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Central El Sch ranks 3rd on composite proficiency, ahead of the local average of 19.4%.

The campus sits in a downtown setting.

Over the past 7-year window. Central El Sch's enrollment has declined 5% since 2018, when it stood at 727 (now 694). The Black share of enrollment edged down from 18% to 12% over that span. Class-load math has fell: from 17.3:1 in 2018 to 13.9:1 in 2025.

On allk12, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around sports schedules, lunch menu changes, and school spirit week. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.