Similar nearby schools
Most similar nearby schools
Chichester SHS → Sun Valley HS → Interboro SHS → Strath Haven HS → STEM at Showalter → West Philadelphia HS → Furness Horace HS → HS of Engineering & Science →At a glance
- Gifted & talented program
- 17 calculus classes · 3 physics · 5 chemistry
- AP rigor: Bottom 50% of US high schools
- SAT/ACT participation: Bottom 25% by test-taker volume
- 4-yr grad rate: 61% in 2019 (Bottom 12% of US high schools by 4-yr grad rate)
Composed from federal CRDC offerings, EDFacts graduation data, and other public data. Full breakdowns below.
How Chester HS compares for families
Solid mid-tier academic profile.
- ▸ LocallyPA students outperform the US average on NAEP 8th-grade math (+4 points).
- ▸ vs Similar SchoolsThe closest comparables nearby: Chichester SHS, Sun Valley HS, Interboro SHS and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.
For Parents
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Objective, government-grade data — no school pays us for placement.
Academic rigor
AP + advanced-course offerings
Moderate — some AP / advanced course access
Bottom 50% of US high schools
Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2020-21). CRDC reports what's offered + enrolled — it doesn't collect AP exam pass rates (College Board owns that data and doesn't release it school-level).
SAT / ACT participation
CRDC federal data · 2020-21Bottom 25% by test-taker volume
Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2020-21). Volume — not score — is what's reported here. A higher count means more students at this school are entering the college admissions pipeline. Note: 2020-21 was COVID-disrupted; some districts (especially those that stayed remote longer) report unusually low or zero takers.
4-year graduation rate · federal EDFacts
What % of students graduate on time?
Bottom 12% of US high schools by 4-yr grad rate
Source: federal EDFacts ACGR (Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate), 2019 vintage via Urban Institute. EDFacts publishes a range (low-high) to preserve privacy on small cohorts; we display the midpoint.
Teacher workforce · federal CRDC
Teacher experience & reliability
Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2017-18 — the most recent vintage that publishes per-school teacher quality fields; the 2020-21 sweep had them suppressed). "Inexperienced" = teachers in their first or second year. "Chronic absence" = teachers absent 10+ days/year.
Your state's public flagship
Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus
The in-state tuition gap is the flagship's biggest draw — most in-state families pay far less than the out-of-state sticker. Average net price after aid runs about $32,875/yr. Admission odds depend on your student's GPA and test scores, not which high school they attend.
Source: IPEDS admissions, tuition & enrollment + College Scorecard net price. Flagship = the state's primary public research university.
Chronic absenteeism
Why this matters to enrollment: Chronic absence is the most reliable early indicator that a student will leave a school — either by transferring out, dropping out, or matriculating to a charter or private alternative. At this level, today's absentees become next year's enrollment loss and the year-after's revenue loss.
Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020–2021. Rate = students chronically absent ÷ 2021 total enrollment.
Counselor capacity
Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020-2021. Counselor ratio = the school's most recent total enrollment ÷ counselor FTE. The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) recommends a 250:1 maximum; the US national median across schools with on-staff counselors is roughly 430:1.
Enrollment trend & projection
Total enrollment + grade 12, NCES Common Core of Data (2021–2024).
If the recent trend holds…
At its recent rate of -5.7%/year, projecting from 2024's 806 students:
≈ 205 fewer students by 2029 — a real revenue/relevance risk worth getting ahead of.
An extrapolation of the recent trajectory, not a forecast of the school's plans; ignores one-off shocks.
Revenue at risk
At $49,831 per student in district revenue, the 205 students projected to be lost by 2029 represent ≈ $10,215,355/year in funding at risk.
District total revenue ÷ enrollment, NCES F-33. Public funding largely follows enrollment, so a shrinking class is a recurring budget hit.
Most similar nearby high schools
The schools most like this one — same type, blended on distance and size — and where their enrollment is heading. These are the schools families here weigh against each other.
| School | Type | Miles | HS enrollment | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chichester SHS Boothwyn |
Public | 3.9 | 981 | +0.1% |
| Sun Valley HS Aston |
Public | 2.7 | 1,042 | -3.7% |
| Interboro SHS Prospect Park |
Public | 4.4 | 1,079 | +5.3% |
| Strath Haven HS Wallingford |
Public | 3.1 | 1,175 | -2.9% |
| STEM at Showalter Chester |
Public | 0.6 | 477 | +28.9% |
| West Philadelphia HS Philadelphia |
Public | 10.8 | 718 | +49.3% |
| Furness Horace HS Philadelphia |
Public | 12.5 | 896 | +19.1% |
| HS of Engineering & Science Philadelphia |
Public | 14.3 | 776 | -0.6% |