Elementary school (grades K-5) · Harrisburg, PA

Phillips El Sch

Federal NCES profile for Phillips El Sch, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 36/100.

2024-25 NCES dataElementary school (grades K-5)NCES 420540001779
0/100100/10036/100
👥 S:T ratio
48
🌟 Gifted program
30
🎓 Counselors
21
📋 Attendance
47
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →

The verdict

Phillips El Sch earns 36/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the Pennsylvania median. It is also more racially and ethnically mixed than most Pennsylvania schools.

#16 of 22
elementary schools in Harrisburg · Resource Index
36
Resource Index · Typical
13.1:1
students per teacher
99.8%
free-lunch eligible

Phillips El Sch has class sizes near the Pennsylvania median. Computed live against every Pennsylvania school reporting to NCES.

By Resource Investment Index, Phillips El Sch ranks #16 of 22 elementary schools in Harrisburg, PA.

Enrollment

393

Pennsylvania · 2024-25 NCES data

Teachers (FTE)

30.0

Federal CCD staff survey

Students per teacher

13.1:1

vs 13.6:1 Pennsylvania avg

-4% vs state

Free-lunch eligible

99.8%

vs 58.1% Pennsylvania avg

+72% vs state

Student-teacher ratio in context

How Phillips El Sch compares with Pennsylvania and U.S. medians

At or below state median

Source: NCES Common Core of Data As of 2024-25 federal staff survey Total enrollment ÷ full-time-equivalent classroom teachers

What stands out at Phillips El Sch

Phillips El Sch is a high-poverty, mid-sized elementary school in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, enrolling 393 students.

At 13.1:1, its student-teacher ratio sits close to the Pennsylvania median, within a few percentage points of the 13.6:1 state norm, neither notably crowded nor notably small.

Economic need runs somewhat above the state's typical profile, with 99.8% of students eligible for free meals.

With 393 students, its enrollment sits close to the Pennsylvania median campus size.

Its Resource Investment Index lands in the lower third of 2,889 scored Pennsylvania schools.

Against 501 statewide peers matched on enrollment and economic need, it ranks mid-pack at #323.

Its student body is led by African American (29%) and White (23%), more mixed than most schools in the state (diversity index 78/100).

Counselor availability sits well past the ASCA benchmark, roughly 393 students sharing each counselor, though short of the most stretched campuses.

Attendance runs somewhat below the norm, with 21.4% of students chronically absent per the 2021-22 civil-rights collection.

Among Harrisburg's elementary schools, it stands alongside Thomas W Holtzman Jr El Sch (792 students): Phillips El Sch is smaller than that campus by headcount and runs leaner classes (13.1:1 vs 18.4:1).

Central Dauphin Sd also operates Central Dauphin Shs (1,966 students) and Central Dauphin East Shs (1,573 students) alongside Phillips El Sch.

Sourced from NCES CCD, CRDC, and F-33 (federal records, not a quality verdict). How we source and compute this.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data + CRDC + F-33 · 2024-25

How Phillips El Sch compares

Phillips El Sch on the metrics families compare, against Pennsylvania and U.S. means.

Metric This school vs Pennsylvania Pennsylvania avg U.S. avg
Students per teacher 13.1:1 ▼ 4% 13.6:1 15.7:1
Free-lunch eligible 99.8% ▲ 72% 58.1% 51.7%
Enrollment 393 top 62% - -

Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25

13.1:1
Leaner classes than 66% of US schools, among the more generously staffed nationally.
393
Bigger than 46% of US schools by enrollment, mid-sized for the country.

Equity indicators (what these measure)

Economic need
99.8%
free-lunch eligible - 72% above the Pennsylvania average of 58.1%
Above the 40% Title I schoolwide threshold; federal funds support the whole school, not individual students.
Staffing depth
13.1:1
students per teacher - 4% below state mean
Top 46% in Pennsylvania - lower ratio than 54% of state schools
Close to the 15:1 benchmark most often cited for individualized attention.
Engagement
21.4%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
At or above 20%, the commonly used threshold for "high" chronic absenteeism, signaling significant barriers to regular attendance.
Funding equity
$15,143
per pupil, district-wide - below Pennsylvania avg of $17,970
Somewhat below the U.S. average per-pupil spend; funding constraints may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
Support staff
Counselors1.0 FTE
Per 393 students, the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
1
in-school suspensions + 7 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.3 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 2.0 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.

Overview

  • Common Core of Data (June 2026): enrollment, staffing, and the student-teacher ratio above.
  • Civil Rights Data Collection: discipline counts and program access (AP, gifted, special education).
  • F-33 School District Finance Survey: the district-wide per-pupil spending figures below.

Three separate federal collections, each on its own reporting cadence - which is why this school's numbers line up on a consistent basis against every other school and state on this site, rather than mixing figures pulled from different survey years.

Student demographics

African American 29.0%
White 22.9%
Hispanic or Latino 19.3%
Asian 18.3%
Two or More 10.4%

Largest group: African American at 29.0% of enrollment.

Student-body diversity index 78.2/100

Simpson diversity index - at 78.2, Phillips El Sch is more mixed than the Pennsylvania school average of 37.3.

Programs

Funding & spending

District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Central Dauphin Sd, which includes Phillips El Sch.

$15,143
Per student
-16%
vs Pennsylvania
Avg $17,970
-9%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 68.5%
State 22.6%
Federal 8.9%

Source: NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey District-level finance · FY 2021-22 Per-pupil expenditure reflects the district-wide average. Individual school budgets are not reported at the federal level.

How Phillips El Sch Compares to District-Mates

School Enrollment Economic Profile Student-Teacher Ratio
Central Dauphin Shs Larger Lower economic need Higher S:T ratio
Central Dauphin East Shs Larger Similar economic need Higher S:T ratio
Linglestown Ms Larger Similar economic need Higher S:T ratio
Central Dauphin Ms Larger Lower economic need Higher S:T ratio
North Side El Sch Larger Similar economic need Higher S:T ratio

Comparisons are relative to Phillips El Sch's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.

Other Schools in This District

Central Dauphin Sd · 5 sibling schools

View district profile

Similar elementary schools in Harrisburg

6 comparable elementary schools (grades K-5) serving the same city.

Similar elementary schools statewide

Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of Pennsylvania, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.

Next steps

Verify locally before acting on Phillips El Sch's federal record.

Federal record (CCD 2024-25, CRDC 2021-22) - PlainSchools assigns no subjective rating; the composite quality score is a transparent, reproducible index computed from this cited federal data.

Frequently asked questions about Phillips El Sch

How many students attend Phillips El Sch?

Phillips El Sch has 393 students enrolled. It is an elementary school in Harrisburg, PA.

What is the student-teacher ratio at Phillips El Sch?

The student-teacher ratio at Phillips El Sch is 13.1:1, which is 4% lower than the Pennsylvania average of 13.6:1 and 17% lower than the national average of 15.7:1. Lower ratios generally mean more individual attention per student.

What percentage of students receive free lunch at Phillips El Sch?

99.8% of students at Phillips El Sch are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Pennsylvania average of 58.1%.

What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Phillips El Sch?

The largest demographic group at Phillips El Sch is African American at 29.0% of enrollment, in Harrisburg, PA. Its student body is more racially and ethnically mixed than most US schools, with a diversity index of 78.2/100.

What is the Resource Investment Index for Phillips El Sch?

Phillips El Sch has a Resource Investment Index of 36/100 (typical reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 4 factors: student-teacher ratio, counselor availability, attendance rates. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).

How does Phillips El Sch rank among elementary schools in Harrisburg?

By Resource Investment Index, Phillips El Sch ranks #16 of 22 elementary schools in Harrisburg, PA. This compares federal resource and staffing data among local peers; it is not a test-score or academic ranking. See all elementary schools in Harrisburg on the city page.

Is Phillips El Sch a good school?

Phillips El Sch earns 36/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the Pennsylvania median. It is also more racially and ethnically mixed than most Pennsylvania schools. This is a resource snapshot, not an academic rating; see the Resource Investment Index question above for what the number does and doesn't measure.

What other schools are in Central Dauphin Sd?

Besides Phillips El Sch, Central Dauphin Sd also operates Central Dauphin Shs (1,966 students), Central Dauphin East Shs (1,573 students), and Linglestown Ms (841 students). See the Central Dauphin Sd district page for the complete list.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) CCD + Public School Universe (2024-25), CRDC (2021-22), F-33 District Finance Survey (FY 2021-22) · 2024-25 Data as of the 2024-25 school year. Coverage from U.S. Department of Education NCES Common Core of Data. Varies by entity type; administrative districts and certain charter networks may report only a subset of fields.

All federal data sources used on this page

Full source list and how we compute each figure: methodology page.

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Every figure on PlainSchools is rendered directly from the source NCES, CRDC and F-33 federal records, no number is typed in by an editor. Each school's figures reflect its most recent NCES/CRDC submission on file. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of June 2026.