The top reported proficiency rate is 30% in Science. The lowest is 10% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Pfeiffer-burleigh Sch
Pfeiffer-Burleigh is a regular public elementary school serving pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in Erie, Pennsylvania. It sits in the Erie City School District, which covers the city of Erie alone. The school enrolls a diverse student population; about half the enrollment is Black students, with substantial shares of white students and students identifying as two or more races. A small portion identifies as Asian or Hispanic. Every student in the school qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, a profile that reflects the economic circumstances of the neighborhood and city.
The building is located downtown on East 11th Street, in a neighborhood of close-set historic houses typical of Erie's older residential core. Downtown Erie is the regional business and civic center, home to government, a university, major hospitals, and cultural institutions. The waterfront Bayfront Promenade and Perry Square are nearby public spaces. The city as a whole has experienced population decline over the past decade, though downtown itself is in a reinvestment cycle led by the Erie Downtown Development Corporation, which has been redeveloping historic buildings into mixed-use commercial and residential spaces. Walk scores for downtown are higher than for the rest of Erie County, though much of the broader county remains car-oriented.
The academic picture at Pfeiffer-Burleigh shows strain. In math, about one in ten students in grades three through five scored at the proficient level on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment in 2024-25. In English language arts that same year, proficiency was about one in ten students as well. The school's science results, from the prior year, came in at about one in three students proficient. These proficiency rates place the school in the bottom quartile relative to other district-served schools across Erie County. No state testing data are available for the pre-K through grade-two students the school also serves, as Pennsylvania does not assess those grades.
Enrollment data on students with individualized education plans and English learners are not available in the public record. Free-and-reduced-lunch eligibility, at one hundred percent, indicates the school serves a community with acute economic need. Staffing numbers, attendance rates, and chronic absenteeism figures were not reported.
The district itself is navigating significant budget pressure. Erie has been ranked among Pennsylvania's ten most underfunded districts by the state. The school board has raised property taxes in three consecutive years to close gaps left by the expiration of COVID-relief funds and to sustain programs in mental health, after-school, and summer support. A five-year balanced-budget plan recommended by district financial consultants suggests this pattern of increases may continue. Additionally, in January 2026 the board approved a resolution directing the superintendent to study whether to undo a consolidation that, in a prior year, turned two of the city's high schools into middle schools and left Erie High as the comprehensive high school. Overcrowding at Erie High is a stated factor in this review. While this does not immediately affect an elementary school, it signals possible structural changes to the district over the next few years that families should watch.
A parent or resident considering Pfeiffer-Burleigh should understand that the school serves a high-poverty, racially mixed neighborhood in downtown Erie and faces substantial academic challenges in math and reading. The school's low proficiency rates are a real concern, and a parent may want to look further into what interventions the school has in place and what outcomes families can expect. The district's fiscal pressures and ongoing budget increases are also factors to weigh when evaluating the stability of the educational environment over time.
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