The top reported proficiency rate is 15% in Science. The lowest is 3% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Laboratory Cs
Laboratory CS is a small charter school serving kindergarten through eighth grade in Philadelphia, with enrollment of a small-to-mid-size school population. The school recently went through significant organizational change. The Philadelphia Board of Education issued a nonrenewal notice in 2022, then reversed course a short time later and renewed the charter for a multiyear term—a sequence that makes school stability worth examining carefully with the school itself, since continuity of enrollment matters for children's progression through the grade band.
The school's student body is almost entirely Black, with a small Latino population and minimal representation of other groups. About half of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, placing the school in a community with moderate economic pressure. The school serves a neighborhood setting in Philadelphia; specific information about special education enrollment or English learner services was not available in the data.
On state academic assessments in 2024 and 2025, Laboratory CS shows very low proficiency rates. In mathematics, the proficiency rate among students in grades three through eight sits well below what would support grade-level advancement for most learners. In English language arts, the rate is similarly low. Science data from the most recent year available shows a comparably weak proficiency picture. These numbers reflect a school where most students are not meeting Pennsylvania's proficiency standards, and parents should expect that the instructional program and support structures may be working to address a substantial academic gap. A parent considering this school would want to explore directly with administrators what the school's strategy is for improving these outcomes, what support students receive in struggling subjects, and whether the school has seen any movement over time—trend data was not available to assess this from the outside.
Laboratory CS operates within Philadelphia's charter school ecosystem, part of a city that has seen sustained growth concentrated in Center City but which overall remains a large urban system with significant variation in school quality and community conditions. The neighborhoods where the school's two campuses sit—one in North Philadelphia and one in East Falls—are residential areas with lower median property values than the city's growing central core, typical of school-choice environments in cities where charter schools serve families outside the highest-opportunity zones.
The school's position among other Philadelphia County district entities is difficult to assess from available data. The comparison framework looked for its standing on proficiency, graduation rate, and chronic absenteeism, but graduation rate does not apply to an elementary-and-middle school, and absenteeism data was not reported. The proficiency comparison could not be computed, so no relative standing is available.
Parents exploring Laboratory CS should seek a direct conversation with school leaders about academic strategy, the circumstances around the 2022-23 charter renewal, current enrollment trends, and the school's trajectory. The low test results are a starting point for that conversation, not an endpoint, but they are real and warrant careful discussion before enrollment.
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