The top reported proficiency rate is 23% in Science. The lowest is 15% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Sullivan James J Sch
Sullivan James J School sits in the Kensington-Port Richmond area of Philadelphia, serving a small elementary enrollment across kindergarten through fifth grade. The school's location places it in a dense urban residential neighborhood characterized by rowhouse blocks and commercial corridors typical of Northeast Philadelphia.
The student body is nearly evenly split between Black and Hispanic students, with a substantial minority of white students and smaller populations of Asian and multiracial students. All students in the school qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the neighborhood's economic profile. Enrollment figures are stable across grades, with slightly more students in the higher grades.
On state testing, Sullivan James shows persistently low proficiency. In mathematics and English language arts assessed in 2024-25, proficiency rates sat well below the midpoint, with roughly three-fifths of tested students in third through eighth grade falling below proficiency in math and in ELA. Science testing from 2022-23 shows a similar pattern, with a proficiency rate below the state midpoint. These results place the school among the lowest-performing within Philadelphia County districts, though measurement itself is limited because state testing applies only to grades three and above; the school's kindergarten through second-grade students are not assessed on state measures.
The school operates under the Philadelphia City School District's new district-wide curriculum framework. Beginning in 2024-25, the district rolled out a science-of-reading English language arts curriculum (EL Education for elementary grades) and has been using Illustrative Mathematics K-12 since 2023-24. These are systemwide changes affecting instruction in every classroom in the district. Early data showed a one-point decline in district reading proficiency in the first year of the new ELA curriculum, and nearly two-thirds of the district's students remain below proficiency in reading. A parent may want to look into how the school is implementing these materials and what literacy support it offers, since reading instruction directly depends on the curriculum chosen and how well it is executed in the classroom.
Philadelphia proper is a walkable, neighborhood-anchored city with dense rowhouse blocks, strong local commercial corridors, and extensive transit via SEPTA. Housing values in the school's ZIP code are moderate relative to national benchmarks and remain relatively affordable relative to the city's Center City areas. The broader district is undergoing significant change. The Board of Education approved a major facilities plan that will close a substantial number of schools beginning in 2026-27 and modernize others; parents should confirm whether Sullivan James is affected by those shifts. Additionally, the city increased the share of property tax revenue flowing to schools, which will support the district budget but also affects property tax bills for homeowners in the city.
Sullivan James serves a small, economically under-resourced neighborhood cohort with persistently low academic proficiency. It is a traditional public school with no magnet or alternative designation, so families attend based on catchment. The school's capacity to raise proficiency will depend on how well it deploys the new district curriculum, the caliber of instruction in reading and mathematics, and what supplemental supports it provides to students below grade level. A parent considering this school should ask directly about literacy practices, whether the school offers reading intervention or tutoring, how often teachers have opportunity to collaborate around the new curriculum, and what family engagement looksystems looks like.
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