The top reported proficiency rate is 49% in Science. The lowest is 16% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Kelly Primary Sch
Kelly Primary School serves the earliest grades in Wilkinsburg, a dense borough on Pittsburgh's eastern edge that is actively revitalizing after decades of decline. The school enrolls children in prekindergarten through second grade in a building on Kelly Avenue, and the enrollment is small for those grade bands, with the student body almost entirely eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. The racial composition is predominantly Black, with smaller shares of Hispanic, multiracial, and white students.
The school's academic profile reflects serious challenges. State test results from 2017-18 are the most recent available data; they show proficiency rates well below the midpoint when compared against other districts in Allegheny County. In mathematics, proficiency ranged from near zero to roughly one-third depending on grade level, with fourth-grade performance especially weak. English language arts results were somewhat stronger, ranging from about one-third to roughly one-half proficiency, and a science assessment at fourth grade showed closer to half the students meeting proficiency. A parent may want to look into whether more recent assessment results are available and what instructional supports the school has put in place since these results were reported.
Kelly Primary is part of the Wilkinsburg Borough School District, which operates all K-6 schools within the borough. The district has made a structural choice to send students in grades 7 and above to Pittsburgh Public Schools' Westinghouse Academy rather than run its own secondary program; this means a Wilkinsburg family's full educational pathway involves two districts and two different taxing structures. Wilkinsburg's school millage is substantially higher than Pittsburgh's, a consequence of the borough's smaller population spread across independent operations. That reality shapes the housing market and family cost of living here.
Wilkinsburg itself is experiencing genuine revitalization. Population, residential sales, and workforce numbers have all grown for the first time in over fifty years. A major mixed-use affordable housing project, Penn Lincoln Apartments, broke ground in early 2025 with completion set for 2026, and an Aldi grocery is under construction on Penn Avenue. The downtown is walkable and grid-based, anchored by the Wilkinsburg Public Library, Hunter Park, and the Martin Luther King Jr. East Busway, a rapid-transit corridor with frequent service to downtown Pittsburgh. The building stock is historic and tightly knit, with single-family homes, mansions, and apartment buildings on tree-lined streets.
The housing market in the zip code shows property values near the bottom of the county's range but trending upward, with rental costs moderate and increasing. The neighborhood remains affordable relative to broader Pittsburgh standards, though the high school tax burden offsets some of that advantage.
Kelly Primary sits within this transition. The school serves a high-need student population in a district with limited resources and tight finances. Current testing data is now several years old, so direct comparison to state benchmarks today is not possible. The school's location in a revitalizing walkable neighborhood and its enrollment of very young children in grades focused on foundational skills mean its environment is different from a middle or high school context, but the baseline proficiency measures suggest students are entering with or developing significant gaps.
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