Enrollment
229
Elementary
DISTRICT 474 · STATE 443
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·PHILADELPHIA CITY SD·NCES 421899003743
Howe Julia Ward Sch
5800 N 13th St, Philadelphia, PA 19141 · (215) 400-3650 · Philadelphia County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY11-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL229 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
9.8:1
23 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 12.6:1 · STATE 13.1:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
92%
210 students
DISTRICT 99% · STATE 75%
Community
0
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade
Student demographics
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. 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
14.7%
PA avg 51.1% . -11.4pp since 2023
Math
16.5%
PA avg 43.0% . +1.3pp since 2023
What this means: On the PSSA + Keystone, Pennsylvania's statewide test, about 15 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 17 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 11 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 1 points.
Source: PSSA + Keystone. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of PA schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
20.8%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
38.3%
based on PA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-17.5pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 21% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 38% typical for Pennsylvania schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
7-year change
SY 2017-18 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
229
-3 (-1%) vs 2017
Student : Teacher
9.8:1
was 15.0:1
% White
0%
was 0%
% Hispanic
15%
was 4%
% Black
79%
was 89%
% Asian
1%
was 1%
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
About Howe Julia Ward Sch
Howe Julia Ward Sch is a compact elementary school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, part of Philadelphia City SD. The school works with 229 students in grades K through 5. Compared to the state average of about 443 students per school, that is 48% below typical.
Within Philadelphia City SD, which oversees 220 schools and 116,230 students, Howe Julia Ward Sch is one campus in the system.
For racial and ethnic makeup, Howe Julia Ward Sch lists that 79% of the student body identifies as Black. Beyond that, the school reports 15% Hispanic, 3% multiracial. The wider county runs roughly 39% Black, putting the school's mix meaningfully more Black than the area baseline.
Looking at the economic backdrop, On paper, Howe Julia Ward Sch has 23 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 9.8:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 13.1:1, putting Howe Julia Ward Sch tighter than the state norm the norm. About 92% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment.
On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), Howe Julia Ward Sch is in the bottom 10% of Pennsylvania public schools. The BeatsExpectations model predicts schools with this FRL share to land around 38.3%; Howe Julia Ward Sch posts 20.8%, -17.5 points below that line.
Zooming out to the county, census data for Philadelphia County shows median household earnings sit near $61,953, 35% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 17%. Howe Julia Ward Sch is one of 309 public schools in Philadelphia County (combined enrollment of about 182,005 students).
Nearest neighbor: Girls HS, around 0.3 miles off. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. On composite proficiency, Howe Julia Ward Sch comes 4th of 7 in the immediate cluster, beneath the nearby-schools average of 28.4%.
Geographically, the school is in an urban area.
Looking at the recent track record. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Howe Julia Ward Sch has showed little movement, going from 232 students in 2018 to 229 in 2025. The Hispanic share of enrollment climbed from 4% to 15% over that span. The student-to-teacher ratio narrowed from 15.0:1 in 2018 to 9.8:1 today.
On allk12, the feed for Howe Julia Ward Sch typically covers fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.
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 HSHigh · 3,463 students
- Lincoln HSHigh · 2,472 students
- Central HSHigh · 2,329 students
- Northeast Community Propel AcademyElementary · 1,783 students
- Mayfair SchElementary · 1,763 students
- Washington George HSHigh · 1,755 students
Other schools in Philadelphia
- Northeast HSHigh · 3,463 students
- Philadelphia Performing Arts CSCombined · 2,572 students
- Lincoln HSHigh · 2,472 students
- Central HSHigh · 2,329 students
- MaST Community CS IICombined · 1,875 students
- First Philadelphia Preparatory CSCombined · 1,831 students
Nearby schools
- Girls HS0.3 mi · 592
- Widener Memorial Sch0.4 mi · 141
- Pennell Joseph Sch0.5 mi · 301
- Central HS0.5 mi · 2,329
- Prince Hall Sch0.6 mi · 360
- Lowell James R Sch0.7 mi · 503
Frequently asked questions
About Howe Julia Ward SchHow many students attend Howe Julia Ward Sch?
Howe Julia Ward Sch enrolls approximately 229 students in grades KG-05.
What age range does Howe Julia Ward Sch serve?
Howe Julia Ward Sch serves students from grade KG through grade 05.
How many students per teacher at Howe Julia Ward Sch?
Approximately 9.8:1 students per teacher at Howe Julia Ward Sch.
How diverse is Howe Julia Ward Sch?
Howe Julia Ward Sch reports a student body of 0% White, 15% Hispanic, 79% Black, 1% Asian, 3% Two or more.
What district is Howe Julia Ward Sch in?
Howe Julia Ward Sch is part of Philadelphia City SD.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.