Since 1999, Freire Schools has built one of the most respected academic programs in the City of Philadelphia. We strive to break the status quo and to empower our students to achieve a place of greatness in society. Among our successes, we are proud to share the following statistics that highlight our students’ strength:
- 100% of the Freire High School Class of 2024 (83 graduates) were accepted to college.
- The Class of 2024 graduates were accepted to at least 71 unique colleges and universities and earned over $7.9 million in scholarships and aid.
- Freire students beat local, state, and national averages year after year in their college persistence rates. In each graduating class, typically 89% to 92% of all of our first-year college freshmen return to college for their sophomore year. During COVID-19, we saw a slight decline to 81%, but this still far exceeds the national average of 69%. The Freire team is supporting students to stay on track during the unpredictability of this pandemic.
History:
Founded in 1999, Freire Charter School is one of the oldest charter schools in the State of Pennsylvania. Since its inception, Freire Schools has provided a joyous and safe learning environment where education can take place inside and outside the school walls actively and mindfully. Seeking to serve even more students, Freire Charter School opened a middle school campus in August 2012.
Student Body:
Freire students come from all over Philadelphia. There are currently 500 students at our middle school in Grade 5 through 8 and 500 students at our high school in Grades 9 through 12.
Student to Faculty Ratio:
15 to 1
Campuses:
Freire Middle School’s campus is located at 1026 Market Street, just footsteps from Philadelphia’s City Hall as well as other classic attractions such as the Avenue of the Arts, Reading Terminal Market, and the Convention Center. Freire Schools renovated a former iconic F.W. Woolworth store to create a state-of-the art educational building that will offer top-notch instruction to students across Philadelphia for years to come.
Freire High School’s campus is just two blocks from Rittenhouse Square, one of Philadelphia’s five original squares designed by William Penn and arguably its most elegant, at 2027 Chestnut Street. The high school is located inside the former Stephen Girard Hotel, a historic Art Deco building that served for many years as Center City’s YWCA. For history buffs, you can learn more about our building here.
Freire Charter School has thoroughly renovated these facilities to outfit them with the latest in instructional technology, from cameras, microphones, and SmartBoards in every classroom to the infrastructure needed to support our new 1:1 computing program. With this program, we are revolutionizing teaching and learning in our buildings as all Freire Charter School students receive an individual laptop for use in school and at home.
With our location in the fifth-largest downtown in the United States, Freire Charter School is able to expose its students to a vast array of community activities with dozens of museums, galleries, theaters, and historical attractions just footsteps away.
