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If you had an hour of school board time for Discovery CS, what would you bring up?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
626
Elementary
STATE 443
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·DISCOVERY CS·NCES 420012100757
Discovery CS
4700 Parkside, Philadelphia, PA 19131 · (215) 879-8182 · Philadelphia County
GRADES KG–08ELEMENTARY11-CITYCHARTERTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL626 STUDENTS
D
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 10% of Pennsylvania public elementary schools
- DTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- DBeats 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 elementary schools
Student : Teacher
17.4:1
36 FTE teachers
STATE 13.1:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
99%
621 students
STATE 75%
Community
1
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten | 60 | 10% |
| Grade 1 | 77 | 12% |
| Grade 2 | 53 | 8% |
| Grade 3 | 71 | 11% |
| Grade 4 | 74 | 12% |
| Grade 5 | 72 | 12% |
| Grade 6 | 73 | 12% |
| Grade 7 | 78 | 12% |
| Grade 8 | 68 | 11% |
This year's kindergarten class (60) is 12% smaller than its 8th grade class (68).
Student demographics
8%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
Test scores
PSSA + Keystone 2024-25 . % Proficient or AdvancedEnglish Language Arts
24.0%
PA avg 51.1% . -10.2pp since 2023
Math
10.3%
PA avg 43.0% . +0.7pp since 2023
What this means: On the PSSA + Keystone, Pennsylvania's statewide test, about 24 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 10 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 10 points since 2023, while math scores have held steady.
PSSA + Keystone results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 24.0% | 10.3% |
| 2023-24 | 34.2% | 9.6% |
% 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
20.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
35.1%
based on PA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-14.2pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 21% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 35% 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 Discovery CS
Discovery CS's state test result (20.9% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Discovery CS this school | 626 | 99.2% | 20.9% |
| Global Leadership Academy CS Philadelphia | 692 | 96.5% | 16.2% |
| Russell Byers CS Philadelphia | 686 | 97.4% | 18.6% |
| Mastery CS-Harrity Campus Philadelphia | 750 | 99.6% | 30.9% |
| KIPP North Philadelphia CS Philadelphia | 683 | 98.2% | 11.2% |
| Mastery CS-Francis D. Pastorius Elementary Philadelphia | 647 | 99.5% | 20.9% |
Matched among Pennsylvania elementary 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 Discovery CS ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Pennsylvania | In Philadelphia County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 20.9% | #1,279 of 1,396 | #93 of 161 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 10.3% | #1,413 of 1,511 ▼ 13 | #127 of 193 ▼ 15 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 24.0% | #1,296 of 1,511 ▼ 94 | #94 of 193 ▼ 33 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 626 | #215 of 1,638 | #51 of 194 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 17.4:1 | #1,483 of 1,528 | #174 of 189 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 7.8% | #1,473 of 1,531 | #183 of 189 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 99.2% | #366 of 1,600 | #89 of 193 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -14.7% | #451 of 1,045 | #100 of 135 |
Ranked against other public elementary 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
626
-8 (-1%) vs 2020
+2% since 2010-11, when it was 612
Student : Teacher
17.4:1
was 19.2:1
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 | 626 | 36 | 17.4:1 | 99% (621) |
| 2023-24 | 621 | 32 | 19.4:1 | 100% (621) |
| 2022-23 | 622 | 44 | 14.1:1 | 58% (360) |
| 2020-21 | 634 | 33 | 19.2:1 | 55% (351) |
| 2017-18 | 734 | 35 | 21.0:1 | 100% (732) |
| 2015-16 | 749 | 36 | 20.8:1 | 80% (598) |
| 2010-11 | 612 | 33 | 18.6:1 | 55% (334) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Discovery CS.
Since 2017-18: students down 15% (734 to 626); teachers up 3% (35 to 36).
About Discovery CS
Discovery CS is a mid-sized elementary school that serves part of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its enrollment is 626 students, spread over kindergarten through 8. Across elementary schools in Pennsylvania, the average enrollment is about 443.
Discovery CS is not part of a larger district; federal data list it as its own local education agency.
Roughly 96% of students at Discovery CS are Black. Other groups include 2% multiracial. By comparison, Philadelphia County residents are about 39% Black. On the diversity index, which measures the chance that two random students are from different groups, Discovery CS scores 8%.
On staff are 36 full-time-equivalent teachers; the student-to-teacher ratio is 17.4:1. Elementary schools in Pennsylvania average 13.1:1, 4.3 fewer students per teacher than here. Discovery CS has a free or reduced-price lunch rate of 99%.
Discovery CS holds a D allk12 Grade, placing it above 10% of Pennsylvania public elementary schools.
On a poverty-adjusted basis, Discovery CS falls in the middle 80% of Pennsylvania schools: 20.9% actual against 35.1% predicted.
In Philadelphia County, where the school is located, median household income comes to about $61,953, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 35%, and about 17% of people live in poverty. There are 309 public schools in the county, enrolling about 182,005, Discovery CS among them.
Of the public schools around it, Discovery CS is closest to Inquiry CS, about 0.2 miles away. There are at least 8 other public schools within five miles. Discovery CS ranks 3rd of 8 among nearby schools on average proficiency, with 20.9% against a local average of 18.0%.
NCES lists the school's locale as City: Large. That means it sits inside a principal city with a population of 250,000 or more. Discovery CS holds a charter, making it a public charter school.
Compared with 2020-21, when it had 634 students, enrollment in 2024-25 was about the same at 626. There were fewer students per teacher in 2024-25 (17.4:1) than in 2020-21 (19.2:1).
Discovery CS has a community page on allk12 for topics such as athletics, class schedules, and weather closures. Teachers and staff are welcome to share updates too.
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
- 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
- Inquiry CS0.2 mi · 272
- Global Leadership Academy CS0.3 mi · 692
- Blankenburg Rudolph School0.3 mi · 278
- KIPP West Philadelphia CS0.4 mi · 848
- KIPP DuBois CS0.4 mi · 523
- School of the Future0.6 mi · 569
Frequently asked questions
About Discovery CSHow large is Discovery CS?
Discovery CS enrolls approximately 626 students in grades KG-08.
What age range does Discovery CS serve?
Discovery CS serves students from grade KG through grade 08.
How many students per teacher at Discovery CS?
Approximately 17.4:1 students per teacher at Discovery CS.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Discovery CS?
At Discovery CS, the student body is approximately 0% White, 1% Hispanic, 96% Black, 0% Asian, 2% Two or more.
Is Discovery CS public or private?
Discovery CS is a public K-12 school operated as a charter, overseen by Discovery CS.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.