Schools
Our Head Start and Pre- K Counts preschool program Pequeños Pasos. Pequeños Pasos is a bilingual preschool program on the ASPIRA, Inc. of Pennsylvania Educational Campus.
In partnership with the Head Start center of the School District of Philadelphia, we serve hundreds of low-income families by providing a multicultural, academically enriched, dual-language education in English and Spanish for children ages 3-5.
The curriculum in place at Pequeños Pasos was constructed carefully with the intent and understanding of preschool being a significant stepping-stone for learning at an early age.
Our program incorporates rigorous vocabulary and knowledge while meeting the standards of Pennsylvania for Early Childhood and Common Core learning.
All Pasos scholars have the advantage of:
• Highly engaged teachers who learn their students’ backgrounds to better advocate on their behalf and work with assigned Family Service Workers
• Research-based teaching and learning within a dynamic social environment which helps prepares students for later education
• Real-life, community diversity, with many ethnicities in the student population
• School-modeled learning environment, not a daycare service
In 1998, ASPIRA, Inc. of PA founded Eugenio Maria de Hostos charter school. The first bilingual charter school in the state of Pennsylvania. Hostos is a fully bilingual K-8 grade school serving 500 students and their families, most of whom are native Spanish speakers. Starting in Kindergarten, students receive instruction in both English and Spanish.
Our goal is for every student to achieve bilingual/bi-literate proficiency by the time they graduate, a skill giving them an advantage in today’s global society.
Hostos consistently has a student attendance rate of around 97%, a student
retention rate averaging 95%, and a teacher retention rate of around 90%.
In addition, Hostos Charter has made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) consecutively and has made it onto the list of top-rated schools by Great Philly Schools.
Antonia Pantoja Charter School opened in 2008 to accompany the bilingual model of its sister school Eugenio Maria de Hostos. Pantoja also provides a bilingual curriculum and serves 730 students in grades K-8 while providing a technology-rich learning environment. The school provides each student with a laptop and offers a keyboarding lab, a music recording studio, and several classrooms equipped with smart boards.
Pantoja has a student attendance rate consistently over 95%, a student retention rate averaging 98%, and a teacher retention rate nearing 94%.
Pantoja Charter achieved Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) in its second year of operation, boasting some of the most significant 5th-grade math increases in Philadelphia. Pantoja again made AYP in 2010-2011 and 2011-2012. Based on the 2011 School Performance Index (SPI), Pantoja ranked 2 out of 10, with 1 being the top score for exemplary performance. Pantoja was recognized in 2020 by the Great Philly Schools as being a school with a high growth rating.
In the fall of 2010, ASPIRA, inc. of PA, launched the first K-12 bilingual cyber charter schools in Pennsylvania. This cyber charter has expanded ASPIRA of PA’s bilingual education services from Philadelphia to students across the entire state. The cyber charter offers a complete online learning environment allowing learning to happen at any time and any pace, individualizing education to each student’s particular needs.
All cyber students receive a computer and all other equipment needed to engage in their courses successfully. Students have consistent access to their teachers via email and live chats. The charter offers several personal supports, such as 1:1 time with teachers, in-person support during the initial transition to online learning, and an expanded course catalog that includes several AP courses, especially desirable to our gifted learners.
Located in a restored three-story brick building at 4322 North 5th Street in the Hunting Park neighborhood of North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, ASPIRA City College is private, nonprofit, non-sectarian, and co-educational. Established in 1974 at Metropolitan Career College, the school provided education and training programs. Today as ASPIRA City College, we are still following the same mission and preparing students to seek gainful employment with sustainable incomes.
The College offers an Associate in Specialized Technology (AST) degree to Computer Support Specialist program graduates and a post-secondary diploma to its Medical Secretary graduates. Students can get started attending on-campus or online in live instructor-led classes, with several convenient class schedules from which to choose.