Original Research by School Decision on Deep Roots Cs
Deep Roots Charter School operates as a small, neighborhood-based K-7 school in Philadelphia, currently serving roughly three hundred students spread across the early and upper elementary and lower middle grades. The school was approved to pursue a five-year renewal in June 2025, though that approval carried conditions tied to improving proficiency in math and reading, signaling that academic performance in those core areas has lagged district benchmarks. For families considering the school, this means continued operation through roughly 2030 is secured, but the renewal agreement explicitly ties that continuation to measurable academic gains.
The student body is predominantly Black and Hispanic, with nearly equal shares of each group and a small population of white and multiracial students. Data on family income qualification for free or reduced-price lunch was not available, nor were counts of students receiving special education services or English learner support; a parent may want to inquire directly with the school about the scope of these services and whether the school has adequate staffing for students who need additional language or disability support.
Deep Roots is in the final stages of a grade-by-grade expansion toward its authorized K-8 footprint. The school now serves through seventh grade and is accepting applications for eighth grade in the 2026-27 school year, so families in the Kensington neighborhood have the option of a continuous K-through-middle pathway without needing to transition to a separate middle school. This expansion has proceeded on schedule since the school's founding.
State assessment results and proficiency data were not available in the record, though the 2025 renewal evaluation indicated the school did not meet the district's academic standards in math and reading. A parent should ask the school directly for recent proficiency rates, trend data, and details on how the school is approaching the conditions attached to its renewal. Chronic absenteeism at the school sits in the bottom quartile among Philadelphia County's districts, which is a concern; a parent may want to explore with the school what attendance supports and engagement strategies are in place and whether attendance patterns have been stable or shifting.
Per-pupil spending at Deep Roots falls in the middle-to-upper range for county districts, meaning the school has adequate resources relative to its peers, though this does not speak to how those dollars are deployed or whether they are translating to improved instruction in the areas where renewal conditions were imposed.
The school has no reported Title I status, enrollment counts by special population, or other governance details in the available record. State testing data for the grade band was not available; Pennsylvania does not assess kindergarten through second grade, and the school's coverage of grades three through seven means some proficiency picture should exist, but it was not present in this data pull. A parent evaluating the school should seek recent annual reports, test result summaries, and the formal renewal conditions document from the Philadelphia Board of Education to understand the specific academic trajectory and improvement targets.
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