The top reported proficiency rate is 44% in Science. The lowest is 11% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Central El Sch
Central Elementary is a small school serving prekindergarten through fifth grade in Allentown's West Turner Street neighborhood. It educates about seven hundred students, and all of them qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the high-poverty character of the Allentown School District. The enrollment is predominantly Hispanic, with a substantial Black student population and a small Asian and multiracial cohort; the school is linguistically and economically concentrated.
On state assessments administered in grades three through five, Central Elementary's performance is very low. In the most recent math testing, about one in five students scored at the proficient level or above; in English language arts, about one in nine. The school's one recent science result, from the prior year, showed proficiency near halfway. These numbers place Central Elementary in the bottom quartile when compared to other schools across Lehigh County. The proficiency gap is substantial, and a parent evaluating the school should understand that the academic pathway here runs well below state targets.
The district has adopted a strategic plan through 2030 emphasizing third-grade literacy proficiency and Algebra I mastery by ninth grade. Two recent initiatives may touch Central Elementary directly: the district opened a new Sonia Sotomayor Dual Language Immersion Academy in fall 2024, expanding choice for Spanish-English bilingual families, and it opened Ruby Bridges Early Childhood Center, adding prekindergarten and kindergarten capacity elsewhere in the system. Central Elementary itself remains a traditional neighborhood elementary school with no specialized theme or magnet designation.
Allentown is a mid-sized post-industrial city experiencing substantial downtown revitalization. The neighborhood near Central Elementary is a residential area of rowhouses and corner businesses typical of the older city. Downtown Allentown, several miles away, has an active Arts Walk, the PPL Center arena, and new retail and housing development driven by a tax-increment zone. The city's park system is nationally recognized. Public transit via LANta bus connects neighborhoods throughout the city.
The housing market around Allentown is moderately priced relative to state and national benchmarks. Monthly rental costs run in the low range for the region, and home values are below the state average, making the area accessible to renters and first-time buyers. The city is in the midst of a housing shortage and ongoing development surge, with multiple apartment and affordable housing projects recently completed or under way downtown and across the city.
The Allentown School District has benefited from a major increase in state funding following Pennsylvania's school-funding reform and continues to hold property tax rates that have been flat for three consecutive years, though a modest tax increase is proposed for 2026-27. The district's long-term direction is set by its new strategic plan, which emphasizes literacy and math proficiency alongside efforts to reduce absenteeism and raise graduation rates.
Central Elementary's performance data does not include information about special education rates, English learner population, chronic absenteeism, or teacher staffing. Those details would be worth discussing directly with the school if you are considering enrollment. The school serves all grades from pre-K through fifth, so it covers the full early elementary span; families planning to stay in the district will transition their children to a middle school elsewhere in Allentown at sixth grade.
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