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What do students at Russell Byers CS actually talk about outside of class?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
686
Elementary
STATE 443
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·RUSSELL BYERS CS·NCES 420009200577
Russell Byers CS
1911 Arch St, Philadelphia, PA 19103 · (215) 972-1700 · Philadelphia County
GRADES PK–08ELEMENTARY11-CITYCHARTERTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL686 STUDENTS
D
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 7% 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
16.7:1
41 FTE teachers
STATE 13.1:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
97%
668 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 | 98 | 14% |
| Grade 1 | 68 | 10% |
| Grade 2 | 75 | 11% |
| Grade 3 | 77 | 11% |
| Grade 4 | 70 | 10% |
| Grade 5 | 74 | 11% |
| Grade 6 | 77 | 11% |
| Grade 7 | 77 | 11% |
| Grade 8 | 70 | 10% |
This year's kindergarten class (98) is 40% larger than its 8th grade class (70).
Student demographics
13%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
22.0%
PA avg 51.1% . -4.0pp since 2023
Math
12.2%
PA avg 43.0% . +4.4pp since 2023
What this means: On the PSSA + Keystone, Pennsylvania's statewide test, about 22 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 12 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 4 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 4 points.
PSSA + Keystone results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 22.0% | 12.2% |
| 2023-24 | 26.0% | 7.8% |
% 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
18.6%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
35.9%
based on PA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-17.3pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 19% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 36% 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 Russell Byers CS
Russell Byers CS's state test result (18.6% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Russell Byers CS this school | 686 | 97.4% | 18.6% |
| KIPP North Philadelphia CS Philadelphia | 683 | 98.2% | 11.2% |
| Global Leadership Academy CS Philadelphia | 692 | 96.5% | 16.2% |
| Mastery CS-Harrity Campus Philadelphia | 750 | 99.6% | 30.9% |
| Discovery CS Philadelphia | 626 | 99.2% | 20.9% |
| 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 Russell Byers CS ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Pennsylvania | In Philadelphia County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 18.6% | #1,307 of 1,396 | #105 of 161 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 12.2% | #1,383 of 1,511 ▲ 40 | #111 of 193 ▲ 18 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 22.0% | #1,325 of 1,511 ▲ 8 | #105 of 193 ▼ 6 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 686 | #153 of 1,638 | #39 of 194 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 16.7:1 | #1,442 of 1,528 | #164 of 189 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 13.1% | #1,348 of 1,531 | #169 of 189 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 97.4% | #484 of 1,600 | #117 of 193 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +18.5% | #99 of 450 | #21 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
686
-24 (-3%) vs 2020
+65% since 2010-11, when it was 417
Student : Teacher
16.7:1
was 15.4:1
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 | 686 | 41 | 16.7:1 | 97% (668) |
| 2023-24 | 668 | 44 | 15.2:1 | 100% (668) |
| 2022-23 | 701 | 43 | 16.3:1 | 100% (701) |
| 2020-21 | 710 | 46 | 15.4:1 | 100% (707) |
| 2017-18 | 579 | 35.3 | 16.4:1 | N/A |
| 2015-16 | 477 | 27 | 17.7:1 | 97% (461) |
| 2010-11 | 417 | 27 | 15.4:1 | 65% (271) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Russell Byers CS.
Since 2017-18: students up 18% (579 to 686); teachers up 16% (35.3 to 41).
About Russell Byers CS
Russell Byers CS is an elementary school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and it is part of Russell Byers CS. It covers pre-K through 8, with a total enrollment of 686 students. Enrollment is 55% higher than the average for elementary schools in Pennsylvania, which is about 443.
In federal data, the district for Russell Byers CS is the school itself.
About 93% of the student body at Russell Byers CS is Black. The remaining students are 3% Hispanic. Among people living in Philadelphia County, the Black share is about 39%. Pick two students at random and there is a 13% chance they belong to different racial or ethnic groups; that figure is the school's diversity index.
Russell Byers CS employs 41 full-time-equivalent teachers. That gives a ratio of about 16.7:1. This ratio sits 3.7 above the 13.1:1 average for elementary schools in Pennsylvania. Free or reduced-price lunch eligibility was 97% in 2024-25. For comparison, public schools in Philadelphia County average 95%.
Russell Byers CS is graded D by allk12, scoring above 7% of Pennsylvania public elementary schools once test results, poverty-adjusted performance, and the recent trend are combined.
A school in Pennsylvania with Russell Byers CS's free or reduced-price lunch share would be expected to score about 35.9%. Russell Byers CS scores 18.6%.
Census estimates describe Philadelphia County this way: the median household income is $61,953, 35% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 17% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Besides Russell Byers CS, Philadelphia County has 308 other public schools.
Philadelphia Electrical & Technology CHS is the closest public school, about 0.2 miles away in a straight line. In all, at least 8 other public schools sit within five miles of Russell Byers CS. Russell Byers CS places 6th of 7 on proficiency among the closest schools that report scores.
On the NCES locale scale, the school is City: Large. Charter status: Russell Byers CS is a public charter school.
Enrollment has fallen by 24 students since 2020-21, to 686. From 2020-21 to 2024-25, the ratio rose from 15.4:1 to 16.7:1.
Topics for discussion here include science fairs, picture day, and bus routes. 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
- 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
- Philadelphia Electrical & Technology CHS0.2 mi · 629
- Freire CS0.3 mi · 1,024
- Greenfield Albert M School0.4 mi · 742
- The SD of Philadelphia Virtual Academy0.6 mi · 913
- Masterman Julia R Sec School0.6 mi · 1,183
- Waring Laura W School0.7 mi · 196
Frequently asked questions
About Russell Byers CSWhat is the total enrollment at Russell Byers CS?
Russell Byers CS enrolls approximately 686 students in grades PK-08.
What grades does Russell Byers CS serve?
Russell Byers CS serves grades PK-08.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Russell Byers CS?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Russell Byers CS is approximately 16.7:1 (41 FTE teachers).
What is the student diversity at Russell Byers CS?
Student demographics at Russell Byers CS are roughly 1% White, 3% Hispanic, 93% Black, 0% Asian, 2% Two or more.
Who oversees Russell Byers CS?
Russell Byers CS is overseen by Russell Byers CS in Philadelphia County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.