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Parents: what's one thing you'd want the Northwood Academy CS administration to hear?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
796
Elementary
STATE 443
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·NORTHWOOD ACADEMY CS·NCES 420013900894
Northwood Academy CS
4621 Castor Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19124 · (215) 289-5606 · Philadelphia County
GRADES KG–08ELEMENTARY11-CITYCHARTERTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL796 STUDENTS
D
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 9% 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
16.2:1
49 FTE teachers
STATE 13.1:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
89%
705 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 | 89 | 11% |
| Grade 1 | 87 | 11% |
| Grade 2 | 87 | 11% |
| Grade 3 | 88 | 11% |
| Grade 4 | 88 | 11% |
| Grade 5 | 93 | 12% |
| Grade 6 | 91 | 11% |
| Grade 7 | 87 | 11% |
| Grade 8 | 86 | 11% |
This year's kindergarten class (89) is about the same size as its 8th grade class (86).
Student demographics
45%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
29.4%
PA avg 51.1% . -0.8pp since 2023
Math
8.9%
PA avg 43.0% . -1.6pp since 2023
What this means: On the PSSA + Keystone, Pennsylvania's statewide test, about 29 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 9 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 down about 2 points.
PSSA + Keystone results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 29.4% | 8.9% |
| 2023-24 | 30.2% | 10.5% |
% 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
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of PA schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
22.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
39.6%
based on PA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-17.6pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 22% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 40% 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 →
Schools most like Northwood Academy CS
Northwood Academy CS's state test result (22.1% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northwood Academy CS this school | 796 | 88.6% | 22.1% |
| Mastery CS-Smedley Campus Philadelphia | 751 | 99.6% | 26.3% |
| Marshall Thurgood Philadelphia | 639 | 98.3% | 16.4% |
| Philadelphia Hebrew Public CS Philadelphia | 574 | 85.2% | 22.7% |
| Harris School Collingdale | 715 | 96.2% | 24.0% |
| Robert Benjamin Wiley Community CS Erie | 550 | 94.4% | 24.1% |
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 Northwood Academy CS ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Pennsylvania | In Philadelphia County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 22.1% | #1,267 of 1,396 | #86 of 161 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 8.9% | #1,434 of 1,511 ▼ 42 | #142 of 193 ▼ 34 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 29.4% | #1,213 of 1,511 ▲ 61 | #73 of 193 ▲ 3 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 796 | #81 of 1,638 | #28 of 194 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 16.2:1 | #1,412 of 1,528 | #159 of 189 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 45.1% | #647 of 1,531 | #84 of 189 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 88.6% | #665 of 1,600 | #174 of 193 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +1.4% | #398 of 450 | #40 of 48 |
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
+6% since 2010-11, when it was 753
Student : Teacher
16.2:1
was 16.3:1
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 | 49 | 16.2:1 | 89% (705) |
| 2023-24 | 705 | 38 | 18.6:1 | 100% (705) |
| 2022-23 | 760 | 46 | 16.5:1 | 100% (758) |
| 2020-21 | 783 | 48 | 16.3:1 | 100% (780) |
| 2017-18 | 785 | 51 | 15.4:1 | 99% (778) |
| 2015-16 | 781 | 54 | 14.5:1 | 64% (501) |
| 2010-11 | 753 | 52 | 14.5:1 | 62% (470) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Northwood Academy CS.
Since 2017-18: students up 1% (785 to 796); teachers down 4% (51 to 49).
About Northwood Academy CS
Located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Northwood Academy CS is a large elementary school. The school's enrollment of 796 students covers kindergarten through 8. Statewide, elementary schools in Pennsylvania average about 443 students each.
The school serves as its own district in federal records.
A majority of students at Northwood Academy CS, 70%, are Black. Beyond that, enrollment is 24% Hispanic and 4% White. The Black share of the county population is lower, at 39%. By the diversity index, Northwood Academy CS comes in at 45%.
Teachers at the school number 49 full-time equivalents, and the ratio is 16.2:1. Among elementary schools in Pennsylvania, the typical ratio is 13.1:1. The school's lunch program data list 89% of students as eligible for free or reduced-price meals.
Measured against Pennsylvania public elementary schools, Northwood Academy CS receives a D. The grade weighs proficiency most heavily, then how results compare with what the school's low-income share predicts, then the three-year change.
Northwood Academy CS is 17.6 points below expectations on state tests, given its student poverty level, placing it in the bottom 10% in Pennsylvania.
In Philadelphia County (population about 1,579,706), median household income is about $61,953, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 35% of adults, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 17%. Northwood Academy CS is one of 309 public schools in Philadelphia County, which together enroll about 182,005 students.
Nearby, Frankford High School is about 0.5 miles away. Other public schools within five miles number at least 8. Northwood Academy CS is 4th of 8 nearby schools by average proficiency rate.
Its NCES locale code is City: Large: the school is inside a principal city with a population of 250,000 or more. As a charter school, Northwood Academy CS is publicly funded and operates under a charter.
In 2020-21, Northwood Academy CS enrolled 783; in 2024-25, 796.
Families, students, and staff can use this page to discuss science fairs, picture day, and bus routes at Northwood Academy CS. Alumni can share how the school prepared them.
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
- Frankford High School0.5 mi · 907
- The Philadelphia CS for Arts and Sciences at HR Edmunds0.5 mi · 885
- Marshall John School0.5 mi · 250
- Stearne Allen M School0.8 mi · 372
- Hopkinson Francis School0.9 mi · 569
- Mariana Bracetti Academy CS1.0 mi · 1,512
Frequently asked questions
About Northwood Academy CSHow many students attend Northwood Academy CS?
Northwood Academy CS enrolls approximately 796 students in grades KG-08.
What age range does Northwood Academy CS serve?
Northwood Academy CS serves students from grade KG through grade 08.
How many teachers does Northwood Academy CS have?
Northwood Academy CS employs 49 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 16.2:1.
What is the student diversity at Northwood Academy CS?
Student demographics at Northwood Academy CS are roughly 4% White, 24% Hispanic, 70% Black, 2% Asian, 0% Two or more.
Is Northwood Academy CS public or private?
Northwood Academy CS is a public K-12 school operated as a charter, overseen by Northwood Academy CS.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.