FACTS is moving to a new home
The Folk Arts–Cultural Treasures Charter School (FACTS) is an award- winning Title I K-8 public charter school in Philadelphia’s Chinatown North. FACTS is relocating to a new building, designed especially for us and our mission. Here we will serve more students. And here will be our permanent home.
At 13th and Buttonwood Streets, only four blocks away from our current site,
FACTS will be able to:
- Establish institutional permanence
- Grow in impact — from serving 500 students to 750 students (three classes per grade instead of two) &
- Increase our resilience; growing in scale strengthens our finances
You can be a part of this exciting new chapter…
Moving into a home that we will own is a dream, many years in the making. And now it’s in our reach. We plan to begin construction in June 2026, for a September 2027 move to our new building.
FACTS, working with our non-profit developer, Building Hope, has already secured $45 million in financing and funding. We are in the final stretch and are now asking your help with raising the last $1.5 million by July 2026.
Help us add a folk arts wing with studios and gallery space where students can learn important cultural traditions from diverse artists. With your tax-deductible gift, we can ensure our new building has the space needed for our unique education programs and expanded services for our most vulnerable populations.
Why Support FACTS?
A place of welcome
“FACTS was a home away from home when I was a newly immigrated student.”
– Cinthya Hioe, FACTS alumna
Where everyone belongs
“Amazing teachers and staff work tirelessly to ensure that no kid or family has to make themselves small or invisible to belong, that no member of the community has to choose between home and school culture.”
– Thierry Elin-Saintine, Chair, FACTS Board of Trustees
“Entering the school feels like my roots are embracing other roots, and yet we remain unique.”
– Profesora Veronica Ponce de Leon, teaching folk artist, Mexican Day of the Dead Traditions
FACTS came out of struggles of Asian American communities to push public schools to better serve immigrant and refugee English Learners and their families. Today, 38% of FACTS students are English Learners and 60% of our students come from homes where English is not their primary language.
Because our society is so often fractured along lines of race, ethnicity and language, FACTS founders wanted to build bridges between and among immigrant and non-immigrant communities. So FACTS was designed to be multiracial and multiethnic, and a mix of native English speakers and English Learners. Our folk arts approach welcomes the knowledge, wisdom, and traditions of all our families into our school so that students learn to find commonalities across race, language, immigrant status, and cultural practices and gain the skills and character to work and grow with individuals who are different from themselves.
A model of academic excellence
FACTS demonstrates that education can be academically rigorous and culturally-driven, promote individual excellence and community responsibility, and allow students to walk comfortably in the world of their cultural origins, in the diverse city in which they live, and in academic and professional worlds. FACTS is a 2016 National Blue Ribbon School (highest of honors for a K-12 school), a 2018 Pennsylvania Distinguished Title I School, and in 2026 was named the #1 Charter Middle School and the #2 Charter Elementary School in Pennsylvania by the US News and World Report.
A community anchor
FACTS serves as one of the few public institutions in Chinatown North, a central and culturally rich neighborhood that connects diverse immigrant and refugee communities. FACTS is one of the few public venues in Chinatown North and already a trusted hub for numerous community groups. The school’s building is actively used for after-school youth leadership programs, summer camps, civic engagement projects, and community gatherings. The new building is consciously designed to be available for use outside of school and over the weekends.
The new facility will continue to be available to community users with spaces such as:
- Gymnasium
- Cafeteria / multi-functional space
- Commercial kitchen
- Rooftop play yard
Nurturing the leaders we need
Aside from awards for academic excellence, FACTS measures our impact by the next generation leaders we have helped to nurture.
“FACTS brings people together through a shared purpose and a caring community. The support I received there helped me grow into a confident leader and shaped me in countless positive ways. FACTS taught me the value of empathy, collaboration, and always striving to do my best. Even years later, the sense of belonging I experienced continues to guide me and remind me what a truly special place FACTS is.”
– Wendy Mo, FACTS Alumna
FACTS has five alumni on our staff, two are teachers. In addition, FACTS alumni are: founders of the Ginger Arts Center (a youth center in Chinatown); the Communications and Youth Programs Manager for Asian Americans United; the Director of Programs for the Asian American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Philadelphia; recipients of the Bread and Roses Community Fund’s Emerging Leaders Award; and coordinators of the Chinatown Mid-Autumn Festival. FACTS alumni have started their own businesses, gone into helping professions, volunteered as their time, and remained active in the community.
1023 Callowhill Street
Philadelphia PA, 19123
215-569-2600
The Folk Arts-Cultural Treasures Charter School is a 501(c)3 charitable non profit organization, Federal Tax ID#52-2457806. Your contribution is tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.