Harambee Institute of Science and Technology Charter School

The Harambee Institute of Science and Technology Charter School is the sole elementary school serving grades K-8 in the Harambee Institute of Science and Technology Charter School District in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. With a total enrollment of 593 students, the school faces significant academic challenges, as evidenced by its consistently low proficiency rates on state assessments compared to state averages.

The school's overall proficiency rates in PSSA Math and English Language Arts are significantly below the state averages, with only 32.4% and 40.6% of students proficient or better, respectively, compared to the state averages of 40.4% and 53%. The school's performance is particularly low in Math, with proficiency rates ranging from 19.5% in 6th grade to 53.5% in 3rd grade, well below the state averages. Additionally, the school's Science proficiency rate of 53.5% is also below the state average of 65.8%, though the 4th-grade Science proficiency rate of 71.4% is higher than the state average of 77.1%.

Despite the school's academic struggles, it has a relatively low dropout rate of 1.6% and spends $14,919 per student, which is higher than the state average. However, the school's student-teacher ratio of 23.7 is slightly higher than the typical recommended ratio, which may contribute to the challenges in providing individualized attention and support to students. Additionally, the school serves a predominantly low-income student population, with an extremely high rate of 99.49% of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch, which likely requires additional resources and support to address the unique needs of its students.