Independence Charter School

Independence Charter School Independence Charter School Independence Charter School (ICS) is a community-oriented public K-8 charter school located in Center City Philadelphia.

At Independence Charter we provide our students with an intellectually stimulating and internationally focused environment emphasizing the arts, languages and world cultures. Recognized nationally for our innovative global studies program, we are the only Philadelphia school to deliver an integrated curriculum that uses world cultures and second language acquisition to introduce and connect conten

t disciplines. One of our ultimate goals is to develop a bilingual, interculturally-competent and high achieving student body. All students at ICS study Spanish within two distinct programs: the Spanish Enhanced program, which includes 30-40 minutes of Spanish daily; or the Spanish Immersion program, in which students begin in Kindergarten with a 90% Spanish and 10% English infusion. By fifth grade that balance is 50/50. Middle school students are also introduced to Arabic with sixth graders receiving one hour of weekly instruction (which increases to two hours in the seventh grade) while continuing their Spanish studies. By the time they graduate, all ICS graduates are bilingual and biliterate in Spanish and have introductory knowledge and skills in Arabic. Independence Charter serves over 800 students from almost every zip code in Philadelphia. Students are randomly chosen through an annual blind lottery. Independence Charter was founded in 2001 by a group of parents and community members devoted to raising their families in Philadelphia. These founding members developed ICS’s mission and program, and many remain instrumental today as parents of current students and in founder seats on our Board of Trustees.

Field Day #3: middle school! A perfect storm of sunshine & blue skies, games & water, and dunking CEO Matt, Tr. Nate, T...
05/29/2026

Field Day #3: middle school! A perfect storm of sunshine & blue skies, games & water, and dunking CEO Matt, Tr. Nate, Tr. Laquan, AP Odamis, & Tr. Sam!

Field Day #2: K-2. A little rain didn’t stop us from having a blast! 🌧️ icsfielddays2026
05/28/2026

Field Day #2: K-2. A little rain didn’t stop us from having a blast! 🌧️ icsfielddays2026

And so it begins! Day 1: grades 3-5!
05/26/2026

And so it begins! Day 1: grades 3-5!

Spirit Week Final Day: Designated Class Color Day! Kinder = Yellow; 4th grade = Purple; 6th grade = Black. Twas a colorf...
05/24/2026

Spirit Week Final Day: Designated Class Color Day! Kinder = Yellow; 4th grade = Purple; 6th grade = Black. Twas a colorful way to end a Very Creative Week! Thank you middle school student leaders for the ideas and hats off to the school community for fully embracing the assignment! 💛❤️🧡💚💜🩶🖤💙🩷

The fun never stops during Spirit Week!
05/21/2026

The fun never stops during Spirit Week!

Lots of peace, love and understanding on this 4th day of Spirit Week: Decades Day. Outfits ranged from Little House on t...
05/21/2026

Lots of peace, love and understanding on this 4th day of Spirit Week: Decades Day. Outfits ranged from Little House on the Prairie in the 1800’s to the face coverings of 2020. Stay tuned for more inspiration from all ages!

Spirit Week, day 3: Wacky hat or Wacky hair. When you look good, you feel good!
05/21/2026

Spirit Week, day 3: Wacky hat or Wacky hair. When you look good, you feel good!

Spirit Week, day 2: Two’s-Day” or “Crews-Day”: dress alike or thematically with a friend or a team of friends.
05/20/2026

Spirit Week, day 2: Two’s-Day” or “Crews-Day”: dress alike or thematically with a friend or a team of friends.

A few more classics of students dressing as teachers.
05/19/2026

A few more classics of students dressing as teachers.

Spirit Week kicked off with “Dress like a student, or dress like a teacher.”🤭
05/19/2026

Spirit Week kicked off with “Dress like a student, or dress like a teacher.”🤭

Address

1600 Lombard Street
Philadelphia, PA
19146

Opening Hours

Monday 7:45am - 5:30pm
Tuesday 7:45am - 5:30pm
Wednesday 7:45am - 5:30pm
Thursday 7:45am - 5:30pm
Friday 7:45am - 5:30pm

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