The top reported proficiency rate is 30% in Science. The lowest is 6% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Pan American Academy Cs
Pan American Academy CS is a kindergarten-through-eighth-grade charter school in northeast Philadelphia, located in the 19133 zip code. It is a dual-language International Baccalaureate school, one of the few schools in the city offering the IB Primary Years and Middle Years Programmes in a bilingual format.
The school serves nearly all economically disadvantaged students. A very large share of families qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The student body is predominantly Hispanic, with smaller populations of Black and multiracial students and very few white or Asian students. The enrollment is stable across elementary grades and tapers gradually through middle school, with fewer students in grades seven and eight than in earlier grades.
Academic performance across tested grades is weak. In math, proficiency in grades three through eight was very low in the most recent school year. In English language arts across the same grades, proficiency was also very low, though slightly higher than in math. Science proficiency, measured most recently in the 2022-23 school year, was similarly low. These results suggest students are not meeting grade-level standards at rates that would indicate academic momentum toward high school, and a parent should look into the school's remediation strategies and curriculum-implementation practices with the school directly.
The school's founding identity as a bilingual IB program remains intact and active. The charter was reauthorized in the 2022 renewal cycle by the School District of Philadelphia. However, a significant barrier to continuity emerged in early 2025 when the school board denied the academy's application to open a connected 9-12 bilingual IB high school. Families enrolling now do not have a guaranteed pathway to continue in the same bilingual IB program after eighth grade; parents of current or prospective students will need to plan for high school placement outside the Pan American network.
The school is located in North Philadelphia, in a dense urban neighborhood. The immediate area is a mixed-use residential and commercial district. Median home values in the zip code are modest and rental prices are low, placing housing well below Philadelphia's citywide benchmarks and making the area accessible to low-income families. Philadelphia itself is a large, walkable city anchored by a strong downtown, major universities and medical institutions, robust transit, and an extensive park system, though growth has been concentrated in Center City and less evenly distributed across outer neighborhoods.
Prospective families should understand that this school's strength lies in its bilingual IB curriculum design rather than in current test performance. The low proficiency numbers are a primary concern and warrant detailed conversation with school leadership about instructional approaches, student support systems, and any plans to improve outcomes. The loss of a high school feeder creates uncertainty about continuity for families planning to stay in the bilingual IB pathway through secondary school.
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