The top reported proficiency rate is 40% in Science. The lowest is 11% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Samuel Gompers Sch
Samuel Gompers School serves kindergarten through eighth grade in the Wynnefield neighborhood on Philadelphia's west side. It is a small school with an enrollment distributed fairly evenly across its grade band. Nearly all students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and the student body is predominantly Black, with smaller shares of Hispanic, Asian, American Indian, and white students.
In state testing, the school's academic performance is low. In English language arts, students in grades three through eight showed proficiency just under a third of those tested. In math, proficiency was substantially lower, at around one in nine students. Science results from 2022-23, the most recent year available for that subject, were higher but still below half of students tested. The school does not report data on special education enrollment or English learner status, so the full scope of academic need is not visible from the available information. Comparison data across Philadelphia County districts is not applicable here because the comparison universe includes only one school, making peer positioning not calculable.
Gompers sits in a dense urban neighborhood within the larger context of Philadelphia's property tax and infrastructure shifts. The district recently adopted a science-of-reading ELA curriculum and new math curriculum district-wide, which affects daily instruction at Gompers as it does all Philadelphia schools. A major facilities plan approved in April 2026 will close or restructure schools across the city beginning in 2026-27; a parent should check with the school or district to confirm Gompers' status under this plan.
The neighborhood itself is part of Philadelphia's broadly walkable urban fabric, with SEPTA transit access and proximity to neighborhood commercial corridors. The city has seen modest population growth concentrated in Center City in recent years, with investment in housing and mixed-use development primarily there. Home values in the zip code are modest relative to national benchmarks, and rental housing is proportionally more affordable than ownership, reflecting the economic character of this part of the city.
A parent considering Gompers should understand that the school serves a highly economically disadvantaged population and that current state test results show that most students are not yet proficient in reading and math. The school's small size may offer closer community but also limits some program breadth. Whether Gompers is the right fit depends on family circumstances, neighborhood proximity, and comfort with the school's current academic standing and the district's curriculum changes in progress. A visit and conversation with school leadership about reading instruction, support services, and the facilities plan timeline would help clarify the lived experience there.
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