The top reported proficiency rate is 80% in Science. The lowest is 45% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Perry El Sch
Perry Elementary serves kindergarten through fifth grade in Shoemakersville, a small borough on the Schuylkill River in Berks County. The school sits on Fourth Street within the town itself rather than on a distant campus, keeping it close to the residential core and making it accessible to families walking or living nearby. The building serves a stable community where manufacturing once dominated; today the character is mixed blue-collar and white-collar, with a workforce concentrated in sales, administrative support, and maintenance trades. Housing is primarily pre-1950s single-family homes, and the borough has neither grown nor shrunk much in recent years.
The school's enrollment is small but balanced across the grade span, with kindergarten through fifth grade classes of roughly even size. About two-fifths of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, placing the school in a working-to-middle-class context. The student body is predominantly white, with a small Hispanic population and very few students of other racial or ethnic backgrounds. English learner enrollment and special education rates are not reported in the available data, so a parent should ask the school directly if those populations are material to their situation.
State assessment results paint a mixed picture. In mathematics, the school's proficiency on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment falls in the middle range, showing that a solid majority of third through fifth graders meet the state standard, but room for growth remains. English language arts proficiency is notably lower, with less than half of tested students meeting the standard in grades 3-5. Science proficiency, measured most recently, was strong. When compared against other districts in Berks County, Perry's overall proficiency index places it in the top quartile, meaning the school outperforms the median school in the county on the tests that were given. This is a meaningful position of strength within its immediate peer group, though the gap between math and ELA performance warrants attention if reading is a family priority.
The school is a regular public elementary building with no magnet or charter designation, so the curriculum and program approach are conventional. No specialized program offerings, staffing details, discipline data, or attendance metrics were available in the data provided, so parents may want to visit the school website or contact the building to learn about specific enrichment, support structures, or daily operations.
The surrounding housing market shows modest stability. Median home values in the area are below the state benchmark, making it relatively affordable for the region, though prices have inched upward over the past year. The supply of homes for sale is plentiful, and median days on market remain short, suggesting a balanced if not particularly competitive environment for buyers. Mortgage rates and unemployment are holding steady regionally.
Perry Elementary is part of Hamburg Area School District, which covers multiple towns. Secondary schooling is not in Shoemakersville but on campuses in nearby Hamburg. The district brief did not identify a recent major referendum, curriculum change, or policy shift affecting families' decision-making, so a parent should check the district website or attend a board meeting if broader district direction matters to their choice.
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