Original Research by School Decision on Math Civics and Sciences Cs
Math Civics and Sciences Charter School permanently closed in June 2024 after years of operation, displacing families who had to find new schools for their children. The North Broad Street building where the school operated has since reopened as a tutoring center rather than a K-12 enrollment option. For any parent or resident considering this area or researching what happened to this charter, it no longer exists as a school.
The closure came at the end of a transition period. In March 2023, the Philadelphia Board of Education had renewed the school's charter for a shortened term instead of the standard five-year renewal, citing ratings that did not meet standards in both academic performance and organizational compliance. The school's founder's retirement marked the end of what had been one of Philadelphia's older and larger charter operations. The decision to close left roughly families in the position of finding alternative schools mid-year or for the following academic year.
Before the closure, the school served a student body of roughly for grades one through twelve. The enrollment was predominantly Black students, with very small numbers of students from other racial and ethnic backgrounds. The school drew from across Philadelphia rather than serving a single neighborhood.
On the metric of chronic absenteeism, which was tracked, the school's rate was below the midpoint among Philadelphia County's other districts. On per-pupil current spending, the school operated in the lower range compared to other county districts. State assessment proficiency data and graduation rates were not available in the records reviewed, so it was not possible to measure academic outcomes directly from those sources. The school's history of organizational compliance concerns, as noted in the charter renewal decision, suggests a parent may want to look into what the specific findings were if pursuing historical information about the school's operations.
For families who were enrolled when the closure was announced, the abrupt transition meant researching and enrolling in other Philadelphia schools during an already-difficult time. The building itself, now serving as a tutoring center, remains in the North Broad Street corridor but is not a school campus. Anyone looking for a Philadelphia charter school with a STEM focus will need to explore other options; this one is no longer operating.
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