Most Philadelphia Mastery high schools improved graduation rates in the last 5 years

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Five of the six city charter high schools operated by Mastery Schools showed improvement in their four-year graduation rates in the last five years, according to the most recent data reported by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

Mastery Charter School Pickett Campus reported the highest four-year graduation rate of 94.29%, followed by Mastery Charter School Shoemaker Campus at 93.33%; Hardy Williams Mastery Charter School at 90%; Mastery Charter School Thomas Campus at 86.24%, Mastery Charter School Lenfest Campus at 83.91% and Simon Gratz High School Mastery Charter at 83.91%.

They had increased on average by almost 2% since the 2018-2019 school year, except for Hardy Williams, which was down about 2%.

The Department of Education figures are from the 2023-2024 school year and were reported in April. In Pennsylvania, the average four-year graduation rate was about 88% for the same period.

“We are proud of the progress that our schools are making but it’s not a place where we are satisfied,” Mastery Schools CEO Joel Boyd said. “We are working towards a 100% graduation rate with our children reaching the highest graduation requirement.

“Post-secondary success is what we are working on. Graduation is just a step in the journey.”

As an example of work toward success after graduation, Boyd cited the partnership between Hardy Williams Mastery Charter School and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia that created a specialized health care curriculum that will help the program’s graduates land highly paid, high-demand, entry-level hospital jobs at CHOP, such as radiology technician and respiratory therapist.

The program was announced in 2024 and was made possible by a $20 million grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies. It started this year, as part of a nationwide program in several U.S. cities.

“The expectations that we set and the accountability metrics we’ve set are post-secondary success working towards achieving a true family-sustaining wage for all of our children that graduate from Mastery and working to support them post-graduation,” Boyd said.

One of the largest charter school operators in the area, Philadelphia-based Mastery operates 24 schools in the city and Camden.

Boyd credited the hard work of the staff, students and their families for the improved graduation rates. Many of the schools were underperforming before Mastery took them over, he said.

“I think it is a testament to the dedicated work that Mastery does around getting kids ready for graduation and their pathways,” said Sean Vereen, president of Heights Philadelphia, a nonprofit that helps students from underserved communities prepare for college and careers. “It’s an opportunity to learn from that and the work that we do. We are trying to bring that kind of structure to district schools.”

Partnerships such as the one between CHOP and Mastery are important, along with mentoring and gaining meaningful work-related experience, he said.

In his second State of the Schools address in January, Philadelphia Superintendent of Schools Tony Watlington Sr. said that enrollment increased in the 2023-2024 school year for the first time in 10 years, compared to the previous decade.

In addition, Watlington said the district’s four-year graduation rate rose 6.3% and it reported a 1,400 decrease in the number of students who dropped out in the 2023-2024 school year.

“We don’t put enough resources across schools, particularly in public schools, in giving kids good advice, that means learning and connecting with them, but also getting them to see what the future is, not just college but the long-term engagement in the workforce,” Vereen said.