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What's something Sullivan James J Sch does better than most schools?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
373
Elementary
DISTRICT 474 · STATE 443
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·PHILADELPHIA CITY SD·NCES 421899003753
Sullivan James J School
5300 Ditman St, Philadelphia, PA 19124 · (215) 400-3960 · Philadelphia County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY11-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL373 STUDENTS
D
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 6% 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
14.7:1
25 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 12.6:1 · STATE 13.1:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
102%
380 students
DISTRICT 99% · 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 | 55 | 15% |
| Grade 1 | 64 | 17% |
| Grade 2 | 68 | 18% |
| Grade 3 | 70 | 19% |
| Grade 4 | 56 | 15% |
| Grade 5 | 60 | 16% |
This year's kindergarten class (55) is 8% smaller than its 5th grade class (60).
Student demographics
62%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 71% · 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
15.0%
PA avg 51.1% . +1.6pp since 2023
Math
15.7%
PA avg 43.0% . +5.9pp 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 16 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Pennsylvania schools, those numbers are about 51 and 43. Reading and writing scores are up about 2 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 6 points.
PSSA + Keystone results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 15.0% | 15.7% |
| 2023-24 | 13.4% | 9.8% |
% 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
16.2%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
33.9%
based on PA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-17.7pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 16% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 34% 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 →
Where Sullivan James J School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Pennsylvania | In Philadelphia County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 16.2% | #1,327 of 1,396 | #117 of 161 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 15.7% | #1,343 of 1,511 ▲ 55 | #89 of 193 ▲ 22 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 15.0% | #1,430 of 1,511 ▲ 47 | #154 of 193 ▲ 20 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 373 | #987 of 1,638 | #120 of 194 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.7:1 | #1,211 of 1,528 | #120 of 189 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 62.1% | #278 of 1,531 | #51 of 189 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 102% | #223 of 1,600 | #56 of 193 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -47.5% | #13 of 1,045 | #7 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
373
-88 (-19%) vs 2020
-38% since 1990-91, when it was 599
Student : Teacher
14.7:1
was 11.8:1
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 | 373 | 25.3 | 14.7:1 | N/A |
| 2023-24 | 380 | 30.1 | 12.6:1 | 100% (380) |
| 2022-23 | 408 | 34.1 | 12.0:1 | 100% (408) |
| 2020-21 | 461 | 39 | 11.8:1 | 99% (458) |
| 2017-18 | 710 | 39.6 | 17.9:1 | 100% (710) |
| 2015-16 | 737 | 41 | 18.0:1 | 100% (737) |
| 2010-11 | 637 | 46 | 13.8:1 | 100% (634) |
| 2000-01 | 646 | 34 | 19.0:1 | 80% (516) |
| 1990-91 | 599 | 32 | 18.7:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Sullivan James J School.
Since 2017-18: students down 47% (710 to 373); teachers down 36% (39.6 to 25.3).
About Sullivan James J School
Sullivan James J School is a small elementary school with an address in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It had 373 students in 2024-25, spanning kindergarten through 5.
Enrollment across the 220 schools in Philadelphia City SD totals 116,230 students.
About 43% of students at Sullivan James J School are Black, the largest single group. After that, the student body is 43% Hispanic, 9% White, and 3% multiracial. Its diversity index, the chance that two randomly chosen students belong to different racial or ethnic groups, is 62%.
Sullivan James J School lists 25.3 full-time-equivalent teachers; that is about 14.7 students per teacher. Across elementary schools in Pennsylvania, the average ratio is 13.1:1.
Sullivan James J School earns a D on the allk12 Grade, which blends test scores, results against poverty-based expectations, and the three-year trend. It scored higher than 6% of Pennsylvania public elementary schools.
BeatsExpectations compares each school's average proficiency rate across its state test results with a prediction based on free or reduced-price lunch eligibility. Sullivan James J School posts 16.2% against a 33.9% prediction, a bottom-10% result in Pennsylvania.
Five-year Census Bureau estimates for Philadelphia County show that the median household earns about $61,953 a year, about 35% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and roughly 17% of residents are in poverty. Philadelphia County has 309 public schools with about 182,005 students, including Sullivan James J School.
Among nearby public schools, Harding Warren G Middle School is closest at about 0.4 miles. There are at least 8 more public schools inside five miles. By average proficiency, Sullivan James J School is 6th among 8 schools close by.
The National Center for Education Statistics classifies the school's location as City: Large, meaning it is inside a principal city with a population of 250,000 or more.
Since 2020-21, enrollment has fallen 19%, from 461 to 373. The school's ratio increased from 11.8:1 to 14.7:1 between 2020-21 and 2024-25.
People who know Sullivan James J School can post here about homework, tutoring, and testing dates. 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 City SD
- Northeast High SchoolHigh · 3,463 students
- Lincoln High SchoolHigh · 2,472 students
- Central High SchoolHigh · 2,329 students
- Northeast Community Propel AcademyElementary · 1,783 students
- Mayfair SchoolElementary · 1,763 students
- Washington George High SchoolHigh · 1,755 students
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
- Harding Warren G Middle School0.4 mi · 570
- Mastery CS-Smedley Campus0.4 mi · 751
- Lawton Henry W School0.5 mi · 571
- Maritime Academy CS0.5 mi · 829
- Franklin Towne CHS0.6 mi · 1,292
- First Philadelphia Preparatory CS0.9 mi · 1,831
Frequently asked questions
About Sullivan James J SchoolHow large is Sullivan James J School?
Sullivan James J School enrolls approximately 373 students in grades KG-05.
What age range does Sullivan James J School serve?
Sullivan James J School serves students from grade KG through grade 05.
How many students per teacher at Sullivan James J School?
Approximately 14.7:1 students per teacher at Sullivan James J School.
How diverse is Sullivan James J School?
Sullivan James J School reports a student body of 9% White, 43% Hispanic, 43% Black, 2% Asian, 3% Two or more.
Who oversees Sullivan James J School?
Sullivan James J School is overseen by Philadelphia City SD in Philadelphia County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.