Below grade-level performers
Russell Byers Charter School's student population comes from the Philadelphia public school system, which educates many of the region's poorest children. So our school serves many students who come to the task of learning less equipped, compared to students in surrounding districts.

Among the Philadelphia district's fifth-graders in 2005-2006, only about 32 percent could read at grade level or above, and only about 42 percent could do math at grade level or above. The District's No Child Left Behind Report Card gives more information about achievement levels of students in the district.

As many as seven out of ten RBCS students come from low-income families. Poverty depresses literacy rates, since poorer children often have less exposure to books and reading.

Gifted performers
Gifted students often have a high IQ score, but there are also other features that educators and psychologists use to identify these students. Educating gifted students means using approaches and programs that can challenge them.

Many Eager Applicants
As our school’s reputation has grown, we’ve had more applicants than available spaces. So we use a lottery system to select students to fill the limited available spaces. We make an exception, though, for brothers and sisters of students already attending our school. For the 2006-2007 school year, we had more than 355 interested applicants on our waiting list.