Original Research by School Decision on Mast Community Cs Iii
MaST Community CS III is a single-school charter district serving kindergarten through ninth grade in Philadelphia, currently mid-expansion toward a full K-12 model. The school adds one grade level each year, with the plan to eventually extend through twelfth grade. For families with young children, this matters: a child who enters in an early grade now has the possibility of continuing at MaST III through high school without needing to reapply or re-enter the charter lottery system, which stabilizes a long-term educational pathway in a way most Philadelphia charters do not.
The school serves students across the full spectrum of Philadelphia's racial and ethnic diversity. The enrollment reflects the city's communities: approximately a third of students identify as Black, with sizable shares who identify as Hispanic and white, and a smaller but meaningful population of Asian students. The enrollment sits at roughly thirteen hundred students spread evenly across the grade bands being served, kindergarten through ninth grade.
Admissions work through the Apply Philly Charter process and are determined primarily by lottery, though a portion of incoming seats go to applicants from specific ZIP codes within the city, with sibling preference honored after that. Demand for the school substantially exceeds the available seats, particularly for families outside the priority neighborhoods, so admissions odds are tight and families outside those zones should think carefully about whether to anchor plans around MaST III's availability.
The school underwent charter renewal with the Philadelphia Charter Schools Office in 2023, a process that affirmed its continued operation and the security of the seat pool families compete for annually.
On chronic absenteeism, MaST III performs in the top quartile among Philadelphia County's districts, meaning the school has managed to keep chronic absence notably lower than most peers in the region. This speaks to engagement and school connection, factors that predict academic progress. However, state assessment data for the school was not available, so the picture of academic proficiency by subject and grade cannot be drawn here. A parent would want to ask the school directly about performance on Pennsylvania's state assessments, available growth measures, and how the school tracks progress as it builds out into the higher grades.
Per-pupil spending is in the lower range compared to other Philadelphia County districts, a positioning that reflects charter school funding models and operational efficiency rather than a deficit in resources, but is worth noting as context for the school's instructional and support capacity.
The demographic and financial data suggest a school designed for broad accessibility. The ongoing grade-level expansion is a significant shift from the typical Philadelphia charter environment, where families often face disruption as children age out. For a parent with a young child in the city seeking stability and a known pathway, MaST III's trajectory toward K-12 operation presents a different kind of choice than most charter options currently available.
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