Original Research by School Decision on Philadelphia Electrical & Technology Chs
Philadelphia Electrical & Technology CHS is a charter school serving grades nine through twelve in Philadelphia. The enrollment is small, with roughly equal cohorts across each grade. The student body is predominantly Black, with a small Hispanic population and very small numbers of students from other racial and ethnic backgrounds. Data on free-or-reduced-price lunch eligibility, special education enrollment, and English learner status were not available.
The school relocated in 2022 to a fully renovated eight-story building at Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Logan Square, after operating for two decades in cramped Center City office space. The new facility is a substantial material improvement: the adaptive reuse of the former United Way Building created thirty-two classrooms, science and maker labs, a fitness center, broadcasting room, and cafeteria. For a school that had been space-constrained, this represents a lasting upgrade in capacity and learning environment.
State assessment data and four-year graduation rates were not available, so the school's academic proficiency cannot be characterized from this record. This gap may reflect the school's charter status, data reporting practices, or timing of data collection; a parent seeking to understand academic outcomes at this school would need to request that information directly from the school or look for publicly reported results through other channels.
Chronic absenteeism at the school runs well above the median for Philadelphia County's districts, placing it in the bottom quartile among the county's schools. This is a material concern; a parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand the drivers and what supports are in place. Per-pupil spending falls in the lower-middle range compared to other county districts, reflecting moderate resource allocation relative to peers.
The school's focused mission centers on electrical trades and technology, a pathway that sits outside the traditional academic credential sequence. A student here is preparing for skilled trades and technical careers. For families seeking a high school with this career focus and specialized training in electrical work and related technical fields, this school represents a distinct option. For families prioritizing traditional academic measures like Advanced Placement or college-preparatory coursework, that information was not available and would need to come from the school directly. The small enrollment and intensive focus make this a different environment from a large comprehensive high school; it is a choice school serving a particular purpose and student population within Philadelphia's public education landscape.
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