The top reported proficiency rate is 24% in English language arts. The lowest is 17% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Mt Penn Primary Ctr
Mt Penn Primary Center serves kindergarten through third grade in Reading, within Antietam School District. The school sits in an urban neighborhood where substantially all students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch and the majority are Hispanic. The enrollment is small, distributed fairly evenly across the four grade levels.
The school's recent academic performance is low. On the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment in 2024-25, third-grade math proficiency was in the low teens; third-grade English language arts proficiency was in the mid-twenties. The school ranks in the bottom quartile across Berks County districts on overall proficiency. These are results a parent should understand clearly: the school is not delivering grade-level reading and math skills at rates the state considers proficient, and this is below the typical performance across its county's districts.
The school's housing market sits in urban Reading, a dense, walkable city bounded by the Schuylkill River and Mount Penn, where the majority population is Latino and Spanish-language businesses and bilingual signage are everyday sights. The median home value in the area is moderate, and rents are below state averages. Reading is anchored economically by manufacturing and healthcare, with major employers including Reading Hospital, Amazon, and several battery and industrial-metal manufacturers. The city is in the midst of state-backed downtown revitalization, including a large CRIZ program and residential redevelopment projects on Penn Street and in Northwest Reading.
The school's district context, however, carries structural pressures. Antietam School District was devastated by July 2023 flooding that destroyed its middle-senior high school. The district responded by converting Mt Penn Primary Center into a new high school building, a change that took effect in the 2024-25 school year. During renovation a floor collapsed, though a county judge eventually cleared the project. The district pursued merger talks with neighboring districts after the flood but abandoned those discussions, leaving the long-term viability of the district as an open question. Property taxes in the district rose sharply in 2024-25, now the highest millage rate in Berks County, a lasting cost for any family in the area. These conditions create real uncertainty about the district's path forward.
The school itself serves a community in high economic need. All students qualify for free or reduced-price meals. Reading as a whole has experienced very high poverty, though recent census figures show improvement from historic lows. The city's walkability, transit system, and riverfront trail assets are strengths for daily life. A parent considering this school would want to look closely at what academic supports and interventions the school offers to address the low proficiency results, and to think carefully about the district's financial and operational trajectory given the recent crises and unresolved merger questions.
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