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Alumni: what's one memory from Independence CS that still sticks with you?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
796
Elementary
STATE 443
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·INDEPENDENCE CS·NCES 420008700584
Independence CS
1600 Lombard Street, Philadelphia, PA 19146 · (215) 238-8000 · Philadelphia County
GRADES KG–08ELEMENTARY11-CITYCHARTERTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL796 STUDENTS
B-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 50% of Pennsylvania public elementary schools
- CTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- A-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 elementary schools
Student : Teacher
11.8:1
68 FTE teachers
STATE 13.1:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
100%
793 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 | 97 | 12% |
| Grade 1 | 101 | 13% |
| Grade 2 | 92 | 12% |
| Grade 3 | 88 | 11% |
| Grade 4 | 93 | 12% |
| Grade 5 | 86 | 11% |
| Grade 6 | 81 | 10% |
| Grade 7 | 75 | 9% |
| Grade 8 | 83 | 10% |
This year's kindergarten class (97) is 17% larger than its 8th grade class (83).
Student demographics
67%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
47.4%
PA avg 51.1% . +0.6pp since 2023
Math
44.0%
PA avg 43.0% . +5.1pp since 2023
What this means: On the PSSA + Keystone, Pennsylvania's statewide test, about 47 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 44 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 5 points.
PSSA + Keystone results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 47.4% | 44.0% |
| 2023-24 | 46.8% | 38.9% |
% 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
45.8%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
34.9%
based on PA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+10.9pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 46% 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 Independence CS
Independence CS's state test result (45.8% proficient) is higher than 5 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Independence CS this school | 796 | 99.6% | 45.8% |
| Bache-Martin School Philadelphia | 614 | 92.3% | 43.9% |
| Robert Benjamin Wiley Community CS Erie | 550 | 94.4% | 24.1% |
| Pfeiffer-Burleigh School Erie | 690 | 88.7% | 14.7% |
| Washington Park Elementary School Washington | 864 | 98.3% | 32.7% |
| Roy A. Hunt Elementary School Arnold | 609 | 96.1% | 26.2% |
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 Independence CS ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Pennsylvania | In Philadelphia County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 45.8% | #963 of 1,396 | #24 of 161 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 44.0% | #922 of 1,511 ▲ 64 | #21 of 193 ▲ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 47.4% | #811 of 1,511 ▲ 183 | #31 of 193 ▲ 2 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 796 | #80 of 1,638 | #27 of 194 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 11.8:1 | #371 of 1,528 | #57 of 189 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 66.8% | #158 of 1,531 | #32 of 189 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 99.6% | #324 of 1,600 | #78 of 193 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -2.2% | #959 of 1,045 | #128 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
796
-13 (-2%) vs 2020
+3% since 2010-11, when it was 775
Student : Teacher
11.8:1
was 14.4:1
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 | 796 | 67.5 | 11.8:1 | 100% (793) |
| 2023-24 | 794 | 63 | 12.6:1 | 100% (793) |
| 2022-23 | 781 | 59 | 13.2:1 | 100% (780) |
| 2020-21 | 809 | 56 | 14.4:1 | 51% (411) |
| 2017-18 | 814 | 53 | 15.4:1 | 52% (424) |
| 2015-16 | 812 | 51 | 15.9:1 | 50% (410) |
| 2010-11 | 775 | 53 | 14.6:1 | 47% (361) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Independence CS.
Since 2017-18: students down 2% (814 to 796); teachers up 27% (53 to 67.5).
About Independence CS
Independence CS is a public high-enrollment elementary school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its grade span covers kindergarten through 8, with 796 students on the rolls. Across elementary schools in Pennsylvania, the average enrollment is about 443.
Independence CS is its own local education agency in federal data.
Of every 100 students at Independence CS, about 45 are Black, the largest group. After that, the student body is 29% White, 20% Hispanic, 3% Asian, and 2% multiracial. On a 0 to 100 scale, the school's diversity index is 67, compared with 70 nationally.
A staff of 67.5 full-time-equivalent teachers puts the student-to-teacher ratio at 11.8:1. Compared with the 13.1:1 average for elementary schools in Pennsylvania, this school's ratio is lower. By family income, 100% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.
Among Pennsylvania public elementary schools, Independence CS outscored 50%, which works out to a B- on the allk12 Grade.
Independence CS sits between the top and bottom 10% of Pennsylvania schools on BeatsExpectations, with an actual average proficiency rate across its state test results of 45.8% and a predicted 34.9%.
The school is in Philadelphia County, where median household income comes to about $61,953, 35% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 17% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Philadelphia County counts 309 public schools with about 182,005 students.
Of the public schools around it, Independence CS is closest to Universal Institute CS, about 0.3 miles away. The count of other public schools within five miles is at least 8. Ranked by average proficiency, Independence CS places 5th out of 9 schools in its immediate area.
NCES assigns Independence CS the locale City: Large, meaning inside a principal city with a population of 250,000 or more. NCES lists Independence CS as a charter school.
Over 4 years, enrollment stayed close to where it was, going from 809 to 796. The ratio was 14.4:1 in 2020-21 and 11.8:1 in 2024-25.
This page collects posts and questions about Independence CS, such as open houses, carpools, and field trips. Current and former families are welcome to add their experience.
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
- Universal Institute CS0.3 mi · 597
- Stanton Edwin M School0.3 mi · 329
- Creative and Performing Arts0.4 mi · 643
- Marian Anderson Neighborhood Academy0.4 mi · 338
- Academy at Palumbo0.5 mi · 1,225
- Freire CS0.6 mi · 1,024
Frequently asked questions
About Independence CSHow large is Independence CS?
Independence CS enrolls approximately 796 students in grades KG-08.
Is Independence CS an elementary, middle, or high school?
Independence CS is an elementary school covering grades KG-08.
How many teachers does Independence CS have?
Independence CS employs 68 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 11.8:1.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Independence CS?
At Independence CS, the student body is approximately 29% White, 20% Hispanic, 45% Black, 3% Asian, 2% Two or more.
What district is Independence CS in?
Independence CS is part of Independence CS.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.