The top reported proficiency rate is 47% in Science. The lowest is 18% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Emlen Eleanor C Sch
Emlen Eleanor C is a small neighborhood elementary school serving pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in Philadelphia's Chestnut Hill neighborhood. It enrolls around the same population as a typical neighborhood K-5 in the district, with the vast majority of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. The student body is predominantly Black, with smaller populations of students from mixed-race, Hispanic, American Indian/Alaska Native, and white backgrounds. The school does not have reported data on English learners or students with individualized education plans.
State testing results from grades 3 through 5 show a school struggling academically. In math, fewer than a quarter of tested students reached proficiency on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment in the 2024-25 school year. In English language arts that same year, less than a third of students were proficient. Science data is from the prior cycle, 2022-23, where roughly half of tested students were proficient. A parent may want to look into those early-grades math and reading outcomes directly with the school, including what support structures exist for students not yet on grade level and what the school's trajectory looks like over time.
The school is located in the Chestnut Hill neighborhood in the city's Northwest. Philadelphia itself is a large, historically dense urban center organized around distinct residential neighborhoods, each with a local identity and walkable commercial corridors. The city is walkable throughout, with strong public transit, library, and park systems. The region's economy rests on healthcare, higher education, financial services, and life sciences; major institutions include the University of Pennsylvania, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Comcast, and numerous others. The city experienced modest population growth in recent years after pandemic declines, with most new development concentrated in Center City.
The Philadelphia School District is implementing several district-wide changes that affect all elementary schools. Starting in 2024-25, the district adopted a new science-of-reading English language arts curriculum (EL Education for K-8), replacing prior approaches and standardizing literacy instruction across the city. It also rolled out Illustrative Mathematics for all grades beginning in 2023-24. Both curricula are new to the system and represent a significant departure from prior practice; reading proficiency declined slightly in the first year of ELA instruction under the new approach. The district also increased property tax funding for schools in recent years and authorized a large facilities master plan that will close, modernize, and relocate schools beginning in 2026-27. Emlen Eleanor is not listed among the schools slated for closure in that plan.
Housing values in the Chestnut Hill ZIP code are at a mid-market level for Philadelphia, with homeownership as an option but rent also widely available. The neighborhood itself has been a stable residential area with tree-lined streets and established single-family homes.
See more original research from School Decision →