Original Research by School Decision on Phoenix Academy Public Charter High School Lawrence (distric
Phoenix Academy is a single-school district that functions as a charter high school serving ninth through twelfth grade. It operates as a Commonwealth charter, having converted from an earlier in-district model, though that change falls outside the period where it would be considered a recent development. The school also offers Innovation Pathway career programs, but the record does not clarify when those were established.
The enrollment is small, and its grade-level shape is unusual. Nearly all students are in ninth grade, with only a handful in tenth, eleventh, and twelfth. That pattern suggests that relatively few students remain with the school across all four years, and a parent may want to ask the school directly about retention and how upper-grade students are supported. The student body draws predominantly from a Hispanic community, with smaller shares of white and Black students. Information on eligibility for free or reduced-price lunch, special education services, and English learner status is not available.
State testing results and the four-year graduation rate are absent from the record. That is not unexpected for some special-purpose or alternative settings, but the school's own materials do not indicate that it is exempt from state assessments. Without these metrics, it is not possible to describe academic outcomes or compare them to other schools. The school's chronic absenteeism rate, however, is reported at the very highest level among Essex County’s districts, placing it at the bottom of the county range. This is a measure a family would likely want to discuss with school leadership.
On the resource side, per-pupil spending is among the highest in the county, which may reflect the costs of operating a small charter high school with specialized programming. No information is available about course offerings, staffing, or school climate measures such as discipline or attendance patterns beyond absenteeism.
The community context is not supplied in the available data, so there is no description of the housing market, town setting, or local growth picture to anchor the school within its surroundings. A family considering Phoenix Academy will need to fill in these gaps by visiting, talking with staff and families, and reviewing any materials the school provides directly. The school's academic pathway and student experience remain largely unaccounted for in the public record.
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