IMPORTANT:
Students who are interested in applying to SLA must apply through the School District of Philadelphia portal AND reach out to us to schedule their presentation.
If you want to apply to BOTH SLA Campuses, you MUST add both campuses to your choice list on the High School Selection online form. If you only put one of the schools, you will NOT be considered for acceptance into the other. Your ranking matters! For the 2024-25 process, students will only receive one offer — and your highest ranked school that accepts you will the offer you get, so students need to be very thoughtful about their ranking process.
More information about the School District of Philadelphia high school selection process is posted here
Admission Criteria:
Admission to SLA is based on a combination of a project-based presentation with the school with a presentation of completed work, As and Bs with exception of one C, 50th percentile on the 7th grade PSSA Math and Reading scores, and 90% attendance. Interested families must contact the school to set up an appointment for the presentation. SLA will not initiate the presentation process with families.
With regard to SLA – Center City and SLA@Beeber, students will only be considered for the campuses they select through the district’s process. Therefore, students must select both SLA Center City and SLA @ Beeber on their School District of Philadelphia High School Application to be considered for both sites. To access the online application, visit this site: Student Placement
2024 Presentations:
Once the application period has closed, the School District will send SLA a list of all students who have met our initial criteria, and at that point, eligible students will be able to sign u for their project-based presentation.
We can’t wait to meet you!
Interview Dates: Dec / Jan 2024-25
Open House Dates
SLA – Center City: Oct 1st – 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm
SLA @ Beeber: TBD
Open House and Tours:
We encourage all interested families to attend SLA’s Open House on Oct. 1st from 5:30 – 7:30. We will be giving rolling tours of the building, with time to talk to students, teachers, parents and administrators.
SLA offers shadow days on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays during the Admission sign-up season where students can spend the day shadowing an SLA student. Students should report to SLA by 8:10 am and go directly to the 2nd floor Main Office after entering the building, and they will be released at 3:00pm. Students will be given a letter to bring back to their school for the day’s absence. Students can sign up for Shadow Days here.
In addition, SLA will be giving tours on Tuesdays and Thursdays for families who cannot attend Open House — families can sign up for tours here.
Any Questions can be directed to admissions@scienceleadership.org.
Project-Based Presentation:
Students must go through a project-based presentation in order to be considered for admission to SLA. Students who are applying to both campuses need only to attend one presentation. We will be opening up the sign-up for the presentations in the fall.
This is a project-based presentation, and as such students should share a project done in 7th or 8th grade that they feel is a strong representation of who they are as a student. The presentation will include the opportunity to present their project as well as talk to their interviewer about how they see themselves as a student both now and moving forward.