The top reported proficiency rate is 65% in Science. The lowest is 24% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Marshall Street El Sch
Marshall Street Elementary serves kindergarten through fourth grade in Norristown, a historic county seat along the Schuylkill River northwest of Philadelphia. The school enrolls a small student body with an enrollment split fairly evenly across its grade band. Nearly all students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and the student body is predominantly Hispanic and Black, with smaller populations of multiracial and white students.
State assessment results from grades three and four show a pattern of strength in science paired with significant challenges in reading and math. On the most recent science assessment, roughly two-thirds of tested students met or exceeded proficiency standards. By contrast, fewer than one-third of students reached proficiency in math, and the reading picture is notably weaker still, with roughly one-quarter of tested students proficient. When averaged across these three subjects, Marshall Street's overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile among the county's districts. A parent may want to look into how the school and district are approaching the reading and math gaps with the school directly.
The school sits within Norristown Area School District, which has undergone substantial changes in recent years. After three consecutive budgets with tax increases and staffing additions, the district has moved to stabilize finances and reinvest in programs. The 2025-26 budget funds new teacher and paraprofessional positions along with additions to psychological services and security, part of a multiyear staffing expansion aimed at reducing class sizes and expanding support services in gifted education, English language development, and special education. The district has also updated all curriculum documents to align with Pennsylvania standards and invested in new instructional materials across content areas. A comprehensive facilities master plan is underway to assess building capacity and enrollment trends across the district over the coming years, a process that will shape attendance boundaries and capital projects going forward.
Norristown itself is in the early stages of its largest development wave in decades. After a long period without significant new private investment, the city is seeing major activity: a Justice Center project anchoring the downtown, a multiunit apartment building approved near Main and DeKalb, a large mixed-use redevelopment of former hospital land, and a new trail junction center under construction along the Schuylkill River. Housing values in the immediate area are moderate, with rental rates steady. The municipality is moderately walkable with a transit center offering regional rail and bus service. Downtown remains marked by vacancy and underutilized commercial space, though public and private investment is beginning to reshape the core.
For families considering Marshall Street, the school offers proximity to a walkable neighborhood core and access to a district that is actively building classroom capacity and support services. The pressing academic question is reading instruction in the elementary grades, where results lag considerably behind math and science. That context, combined with enrollment and building-capacity work happening at the district level, suggests a school in transition within a district actively reshaping itself—a situation where direct conversation with school leadership about instructional approach and near-term plans would be important for any parent evaluating fit.
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