West Philadelphia HS

West Philadelphia HS, a reasonably sized secondary school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, operated by Philadelphia City SD, caters to 718 students, covering grades 9 through 12.

Across the 220 schools in Philadelphia City SD (116,230 students total), West Philadelphia HS accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

Demographically, West Philadelphia HS shows that 90% of students identify as Black, making the school strongly Black-majority. Other groups include 4% Hispanic, 3% multiracial, 2% Asian. By comparison, Philadelphia County as a whole is about 39% Black, so the school skews meaningfully more Black than its surroundings.

In terms of school funding signals, Staff filings list 34 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 20.9:1 students per teacher. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 12.8:1, putting West Philadelphia HS higher than the state norm the norm. Around 83% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. Set against Philadelphia County (around 95%), the school's rate is somewhat below typical.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), On a poverty-adjusted basis, West Philadelphia HS sits in the bottom 10% statewide. Predicted proficiency from the FRL regression is roughly 42.2%; actual is 9.5%, a gap of -32.7 points.

Zooming out to the county, Philadelphia County reports that the typical household earns roughly $61,953 per year, about 35% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 17%. West Philadelphia HS is one of 309 public schools in Philadelphia County (combined enrollment of about 182,005 students).

The closest other public school is The Workshop School, roughly 0.2 miles away. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around West Philadelphia HS. Among the 7 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), West Philadelphia HS ranks 6th on composite proficiency, below the local average of 17.5%.

Geographically, the school is in a metropolitan area.

Five-year trend. West Philadelphia HS's enrollment has increased 56% since 2018, when it stood at 460 (now 718). Over the same period, the Black share contracted from 96% to 90%. The student-to-teacher ratio loosened from 14.1:1 in 2018 to 20.9:1 today.

On the community side, members of the West Philadelphia HS community share and discuss pickup logistics, teacher feedback, and after-school programs. The community welcomes input from current and former families.