The top reported proficiency rate is 23% in English language arts. The lowest is 10% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Phillis Wheatley Community School
Phillis Wheatley Community School is a charter school in New Orleans serving pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. It is located in the city’s historic core, and its enrollment of just under 900 students makes it a midsized school for a pre-K–8 grade band. The student body is predominantly Black, with a substantial share of Hispanic students and small numbers of Asian, white, or multiracial students. About three-quarters of the student body qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, an indicator of the economic context many families in this part of New Orleans navigate.
The school operates as its own district, a structure common in New Orleans’s post-Katrina school landscape, where charter schools often function independently rather than under a traditional central office. That means parents engage directly with the school’s leadership on enrollment, programming, and support services. The district brief turned up no publicly reported recent changes or initiatives, so a family considering the school would want to ask current parents and staff about any new programs or shifts in direction.
On state assessments, the school’s proficiency rates are notably below the midpoint when compared with other Orleans Parish school districts, placing it in the bottom quartile of that large cohort. In math, a modest share of students in tested grades scored at the proficient or advanced level. In English language arts, the share was a bit higher but still low. Science and social studies proficiency were lower still. These numbers reflect the school’s standing in a city with many school options, and a parent might want to talk with the school about academic supports, intervention strategies, and whether the school has seen any recent trend in these results. The state changed the cut scores for social studies, which makes direct year-to-year comparisons uncertain for that subject; for the other subjects the testing framework appears stable.
Because the school ends at eighth grade, there is no graduation rate to consider. A family would need a plan for high school placement after eighth grade. The school does not offer high school level courses or college credit programs, which is typical for a pre-K–8 campus.
New Orleans itself is a dense, mixed-use city with a deeply layered history as a Gulf Coast port, a tourism and convention destination, and a growing film industry hub. The city’s housing market reflects wide variation by neighborhood. Typical home values in the area where the school sits are near the national average and above the state median, while rents are roughly on par with the national rent index. Prices have softened somewhat over the past year, potentially giving buyers more room in the market. NatioJen economic conditions show a moderate unemployment rate and mortgage rates that have fluctuated around six and a half percent in recent months.
The school’s neighborhood is part of the city’s older, more established footprint, and the street grid and housing stock reflect that. The school is named for Phillis Wheatley, the eighteenth-century poet and the first African American woman to publish a book of poetry, a historical figure whose intellectual legacy is directly referenced in the school’s identity. Families drawn to a school that carries that name may find it indicative of a particular emphasis on cultural grounding and academic ambition, though the actual program offerings and curriculum would need to be explored directly with the school, as no detailed programming data was available in this profile.
For a parent, the central question is fit. For those who value a pre-K–8 charter in a city with many choices, and who are comfortable with a student population where economic need is common, the school provides a clear community setting. The academic achievement numbers are low by city and state standards, and a family should understand what academic supports are in place and how the school responds to students who need additional help. The lack of a high school means a transition is inevitable, so a family would want to know how the school prepares students for the next step and what its feeder patterns or partnerships look like. In a system where parents actively choose schools, this is a place worth visiting and asking hard questions of before enrolling.
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