The top reported proficiency rate is 60% in Science. The lowest is 18% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Twelfth & Marion El Sch
Twelfth & Marion Elementary is a small PreK-4 school serving Reading's Twelfth and Marion neighborhood, with an enrollment of about that size for its grade band. The school sits in one of Pennsylvania's urban centers with extremely high economic need: every student qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, and the student body is overwhelmingly Hispanic, reflecting Reading's demographic composition as a majority-Latino city.
On state assessments in math and English language arts, the school's proficiency rates are low. In the most recent testing year, roughly one in five students scored at proficiency in both subjects. Science performance is notably stronger, with a majority of students reaching proficiency when last tested. The gap between science and the literacy and numeracy results is substantial and worth exploring directly with the school. In the context of Berks County districts overall, Twelfth & Marion's combined proficiency performance places it in the bottom quartile among the county's schools, indicating that students here are entering early grades with significant academic gaps.
The school is part of Reading School District, an urban system serving a high-poverty city and operating with substantial state support. For the coming 2026-27 school year, the district is opening a new high school innovation academy focused on STEM, which will ease crowding at the main high school and offer additional pathways later on. The district approved a budget for 2025-26 with no property tax increase, holding the line on local taxes even as most surrounding Berks County districts raised millage. Additionally, Reading is a primary beneficiary of Pennsylvania's new adequacy supplements flowing to high-poverty districts since 2024-25, providing additional state aid to help fund classroom resources and instruction.
Reading itself is densely built and walkable downtown, a historic industrial city with rowhouse neighborhoods and a strong Latino business community along Penn Street. The city is in the middle of a state-backed revitalization effort, with new mixed-use development and affordable housing projects underway, though housing costs remain low relative to state and national benchmarks. The surrounding Berks County market is considerably more affluent and predominantly white, creating a sharp contrast in school funding capacity and neighborhood resources.
For a family considering Twelfth & Marion, the key facts are the academic starting point (literacy and math results are well below proficiency), the school's deeply high-poverty composition, and the ongoing effort by the district and state to strengthen instruction and resources in schools like this one. A parent may want to look into further detail with the school about reading and math intervention, how the school is using the state adequacy dollars, and what strategies are in place to close the proficiency gap that is clearly present in early grades.
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