Original Research by School Decision on Mastery Cs-cleveland Elementary
Mastery CS-Cleveland Elementary is a kindergarten through eighth-grade charter school operated within Philadelphia County's school system. The school serves a small to mid-sized student body drawn almost entirely from the neighborhoods around it; the overwhelming majority of students are Black, with smaller populations of Hispanic and multiracial students, and very few White or Asian students. The racial composition reflects deep residential segregation in the city and the school's role as a community anchor in a particular part of Philadelphia.
The school received a five-year charter renewal from the School District of Philadelphia in 2021, which means its authorization to operate is secured through the mid-2020s. That renewal came after years of delayed negotiations between Mastery and the district's Charter Schools Office, so families can reasonably expect continuity in the school's status as an authorized neighborhood option.
State assessment data for the school was not available in the records reviewed, so a parent cannot see how Mastery Cleveland's students perform on Pennsylvania's standardized tests or how that performance has changed over time. Without those results, it is not possible to characterize the school's academic standing against other Philadelphia charter or district schools. A parent interested in proficiency outcomes should ask the school directly for its most recent PSSA or other state assessment results and should look into how those results compare to neighborhood alternatives.
The school's per-pupil spending sits in the lower range compared to other districts across Philadelphia County. Chronic absenteeism at the school is above the median for the county, meaning a higher-than-typical share of students miss school regularly enough to disrupt their learning. A parent may want to explore with the school what supports are in place to address attendance and what barriers families face to getting students to school consistently.
A significant recent change at Mastery's network, including Cleveland Elementary, is a shift toward structured literacy instruction grounded in the science of reading. As of the 2024-2025 school year, the network has embedded explicit instruction in foundational skills such as phonology and orthography into its teaching approach, with teacher training now in place. This pedagogy change affects how students in kindergarten through eighth grade learn to read and reflects the network's response to proficiency declines during and after the pandemic. For families who value explicit, systematic literacy instruction, this shift is relevant. For families exploring the school, understanding how this approach aligns with their own beliefs about how children learn to read is worth a conversation with the school.
The school does not report the share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, nor does it report the number or rate of students with individualized education plans or students learning English as a second language. These gaps make it impossible to assess the scope of economic need or the breadth of special services the school provides. A parent should ask the school directly about these student populations to understand what supports are available.
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