Frequently Asked Questions

A charter school is a publicly-funded, tuition-free school, that functions under a charter. The charter allows schools to engage in innovative educational programs that meet high performance standards. Pennsylvania’s Charter School Law was enacted in 1997.

You can learn more about how charter schools operate here.

Philadelphia Performing Arts is one school with three campuses:

East Campus (Grades K-1)

2407 S. Broad Street
Philadelphia, PA 19148
(215)278-2460

West Campus (Grades 2-5)

2600 S. Broad Street
Philadelphia, PA 19145
(215)551­-4000 

Vine Street Campus (Grades 6-12)

1600 Vine Street
Philadelphia, PA 19102
(267)428­-2224

The school year begins in September and ends in June. For a more detailed look at our school year, please see the school calendar HERE. 

Students begin their day at 7:45am and are dismissed at approximately 3:30pm. Dismissal times are staggered for various grade levels. Any after school activity will list the dismissal time in the program's details.

Yes. All items are available at Cramer’s Kids. Click HERE to view our uniform list.

Website: www.cramersuniforms.com

Main Location: 4533 Frankford Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19124 | Phone (215) 743­0750

South Philadelphia Location: 12th and Passyunk Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19148 | Phone (215) 468­2400

West Philadelphia Location: 52nd and Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19153 | Phone (215) 238­1400

All students receive free breakfast and lunch.

The School District of Philadelphia is responsible for all student transportation. Students who live 1.5 miles or more away from the school receive transpasses.

Special Education students who currently attend another school and receive transportation services from the School District of Philadelphia will continue to receive such services once enrolled at Philadelphia Performing Arts.

Please note that schools are not responsible for transportation services.

All students in grades Kindergarten through 4th will have each of the following classes every week:

● Ballet

● French Language

● Innovations in Science

● Instrumental Music

● Visual Arts

● Vocal Music

Starting at the fifth grade, student choose to two of the courses above to focus on each week. Upon entering the sixth grade, students are placed in one major, and will remain in that major until graduation. Several additional majors are available to students in sixth through twelfth grade. See the links below to learn more!

Lean more: the ARTS IN grades k-4

Learn more: the pre majors program

Lean more: the majors program

Yes! We offer a variety of clubs, extracurricular activities, and sports. We also have an aftercare program.

LEARN MORE: AFTERCARE

learn more: Clubs and activities

learn more: Athletics

Yes, our school follows the Child Find Policy and offers special education programs and services to best meet the needs of our students.

Learn more: student services

Yes. We have gifted individual educational plans.

Yes. Advanced Placement (AP) Courses and Honors Classes are available to 9th-12th grade high school students.

No. Philadelphia Performing Arts is a tuition-free public charter school, and there is no cost to attend.

Each year, the lottery is held in the winter for the following school year admissions.  Please visit the Important Dates page to view the lottery date, as well as other key deadlines for application submissions. The lottery is open to the public to view.

Approximately 5,000 applications in total are submitted each year for grades K-12.

In Kindergarten, there are approximately 180 students accepted each year. In 1st-12th grades, there are a limited number of spots available, approximately 25 students in total are accepted each year.

All students living in Philadelphia and entering grades K-12 are eligible to apply through the online application found HERE.

Kindergarten applicants MUST be five (5) years old by September 1st of the school year for which they are applying.

Applicants living outside of Philadelphia, but still residents of Pennsylvania, who apply through the lottery process may be admitted only if enrollment for a particular grade is not capped following the admission of Philadelphia resident students. We cannot accept students who reside outside of Pennsylvania.

When the application opens each year, an application window and deadline will be published on the Apply Today page of the website.  As long as the application is submitted by the lottery application deadline, the application will enter the lottery.

All applications submitted after the lottery application deadline are placed at the bottom of the waitlist on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Please note: Only one application per student may be submitted.  Any duplicate applications are not admitted into the lottery drawing.

Yes. In the event that there are no seats available in a particular grade, a lottery will still be conducted in order to generate a waitlist.

Waitlists remain valid for one school year only and are based on the current school year applications.  If an applicant on the waitlist is not notified of acceptance, they MUST reapply for next school year.

The online application is available in English and Spanish. Please email admissions.ppa@stringtheoryschools.org if you need an application in a different foreign language from what is available.

Please email admissions.ppa@stringtheoryschools.org to correct or update information in the application.  Do not submit a duplicate application (it will not count).  It is the responsibility of the parent/guardian to update the school if contact information for the applicant has changed.

Yes. Please note: A sibling is defined as a brother or sister, by blood, marriage or adoption, living in the same household. Nieces, nephews, cousins or unrelated children, even if living in the same household as the applicant, are NOT considered to be siblings.

In order to qualify for sibling preference, applicants must have a sibling, as defined above, who is currently enrolled in and attending Philadelphia Performing Arts for at least one full academic year.

A Sibling Lottery will only be held in the event that there are more siblings applying than seats available in any particular grade.  This means that siblings could be on a waitlist for any particular grade.

The Majors program begins in 5th grade with the Pre-Majors Program. In 5th grade, students are placed in two majors. Beginning in sixth grade, students are placed in one major and continue in that major through 12th grade.

For information about the Majors Program, see OUR MODEL page and CURRICULUM AND CULURE page.

Yes.  Middle School applicants (Grades 5-8) select from the “Schools” of Majors. This selection will enter the applicant into the lottery for that Major School in the corresponding grade. If accepted from the lottery, the student will be placed in one of the Majors within the selected School.

High School applicants (Grades 9-12) select their top THREE choices for a Major.  The lottery takes into account the applicant’s top three preferences for Majors when entering the applicant into the lottery drawing for the majors selected in the corresponding grade. If accepted from the lottery, the student will be enrolled in the Major for which the lottery selected them.