The top reported proficiency rate is 32% in English language arts. The lowest is 16% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Mastery Cs-cleveland Elementary
Mastery CS-Cleveland Elementary is a charter school serving kindergarten through eighth grade in Philadelphia's 19140 ZIP code. It operates as part of the Mastery charter network and enrolled a student population that was predominantly African American, with a substantial share of Hispanic and multiracial students. All enrolled students qualified for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a low-income student body.
The school is located in an urban neighborhood within Philadelphia, a large city known for its dense rowhouse residential fabric and strong neighborhood identity. The area around the school is part of a city experiencing moderate uneven growth concentrated mainly in Center City; housing values in the broader ZIP code are modest and reflect the neighborhood's economic profile. Philadelphia as a whole is among the most walkable major cities in the U.S., with extensive transit access through SEPTA, a large park system, and neighborhood-based civic institutions like library branches and community schools.
On state assessments from the most recent available school year, Mastery Cleveland's proficiency results were low across tested subjects. In English language arts, the proficiency rate for students in grades three through eight was less than half the typical benchmark. In mathematics, it was substantially lower, around one-sixth of students demonstrating proficiency. Science proficiency, assessed the prior year, was similarly modest. These results reflect a broader pattern: the Mastery network experienced notable declines in reading proficiency after the pandemic and has responded by adopting structured literacy instruction grounded in the science of reading, with explicit teacher training in foundational skills like phonology and orthography now embedded in its schoolwide plans. This pedagogical shift is being implemented at Cleveland Elementary and affects how students learn to read.
The school's operating context has stabilized with a five-year charter renewal from the School District of Philadelphia in 2021, securing its legal authorization to operate through the medium term after years of delayed renewal negotiations. Parents seeking clarity on the school's current performance trajectory or the practical effects of the structured literacy changes may want to look into those details further with the school directly.
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