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Does Altoona Area HS have enough mental health and stress support?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
2,255
High
DISTRICT 685 · STATE 738
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·ALTOONA AREA SD·NCES 420234000913
Altoona Area High School
1404 6th Ave, Altoona, PA 16602 · (814) 940-6986 · Blair County
GRADES 06–12HIGH13-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL2,255 STUDENTS
B+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 71% of Pennsylvania public high schools
- B-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- ABeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Pennsylvania public high schools
Student : Teacher
16.9:1
133 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 12.8:1 · STATE 12.8:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
100%
2,246 students
DISTRICT 99% · STATE 75%
Community
1
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other high schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 8 | 1 | 0% |
| Grade 9 | 665 | 29% |
| Grade 10 | 621 | 28% |
| Grade 11 | 517 | 23% |
| Grade 12 | 451 | 20% |
Student demographics
28%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 32% · STATE 59% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
PSSA + Keystone 2024-25 . % Proficient or AdvancedEnglish Language Arts
53.1%
PA avg 51.1% . -5.7pp since 2023
Math
37.4%
PA avg 43.0% . -13.2pp since 2023
What this means: On the PSSA + Keystone, Pennsylvania's statewide test, about 53 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 37 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Pennsylvania schools, those numbers are about 51 and 43. Reading and writing scores are down about 6 points since 2023, while math scores are down about 13 points.
PSSA + Keystone results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 53.1% | 37.4% |
| 2023-24 | 58.8% | 50.6% |
% Proficient or Advanced, all students and all tested grades.
Source: PSSA + Keystone. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
50.7%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
34.9%
based on PA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+15.8pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 51% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 35% typical for Pennsylvania schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Pennsylvania's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like Altoona Area High School
Altoona Area High School's state test result (50.7% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Altoona Area High School this school | 2,255 | 99.6% | 50.7% |
| Wallenpaupack Area High School Hawley | 986 | 99.7% | 60.2% |
| Mid Valley Secondary Center Throop | 898 | 98.2% | 48.5% |
| Dover Area High School Dover | 979 | 98.7% | 57.0% |
| Forest Hills JSHS Sidman | 798 | 99.2% | 48.9% |
| Franklin Area JSHS Franklin | 942 | 87.0% | 42.3% |
Matched among Pennsylvania high schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Altoona Area High School ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Pennsylvania | In Blair County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 50.7% | #291 of 576 | #4 of 7 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 37.4% | #326 of 626 ▼ 167 | #6 of 7 ▼ 5 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 53.1% | #383 of 626 ▼ 43 | #6 of 7 no change |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 2,255 | #28 of 713 | #1 of 8 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 16.9:1 | #519 of 601 | #7 of 7 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 28.4% | #314 of 604 | #1 of 7 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 99.6% | #121 of 619 | #1 of 7 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +33.9% | #13 of 221 | N/A |
Ranked against other public high schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
2,255
+47 (+2%) vs 2020
+9% since 1990-91, when it was 2,065
Student : Teacher
16.9:1
was 16.0:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 2,255 | 133.5 | 16.9:1 | 100% (2,246) |
| 2023-24 | 2,246 | 139.5 | 16.1:1 | 100% (2,243) |
| 2022-23 | 2,228 | 137.2 | 16.2:1 | 48% (1,077) |
| 2020-21 | 2,208 | 138 | 16.0:1 | 44% (964) |
| 2017-18 | 1,684 | 114 | 14.8:1 | 40% (675) |
| 2015-16 | 1,778 | 112 | 15.9:1 | 56% (1,003) |
| 2010-11 | 1,741 | 118 | 14.8:1 | 44% (764) |
| 2000-01 | 2,013 | 118 | 17.1:1 | 31% (618) |
| 1990-91 | 2,065 | 110 | 18.8:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Altoona Area High School.
Since 2017-18: students up 34% (1,684 to 2,255); teachers up 17% (114 to 133.5).
About Altoona Area High School
Altoona Area High School is a high school with a street address in Altoona, Pennsylvania. The school serves 2,255 students in grades 6 through 12 in 2024-25. For comparison, high schools in Pennsylvania average about 738 students.
Altoona Area High School belongs to Altoona Area SD, a district of 10 schools and 6,852 students.
White students are the large majority at Altoona Area High School, with 84% of enrollment. The remaining shares are 11% Black and 3% Hispanic. Census estimates put the White share of Blair County's population at about 92%. Altoona Area High School has a diversity index of 28%, compared with 70% for all US public school students.
The school reports 133.5 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to about 16.9 students per teacher. For comparison, high schools in Pennsylvania average 12.8:1. Free or reduced-price lunch eligibility covers 100% of students. Compared with the 74% average for public schools in Blair County, the school's rate is higher.
The allk12 Grade for Altoona Area High School is B+. Compared with Pennsylvania public high schools, the school scored higher than 71% on a mix of test scores, poverty-adjusted results, and recent trend.
The BeatsExpectations prediction for Altoona Area High School is 34.9%, and its average proficiency rate on state tests is 50.7%.
According to the American Community Survey, in Blair County, median household income is about $62,382, 24% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 8% of residents live below the federal poverty line. A total of 33 public schools operate in Blair County, serving about 15,692 students.
The closest public school to Altoona Area High School is Altoona Area Jr High School, less than a tenth of a mile away. Other public schools within five miles number at least 8. The school's 50.7% average proficiency ranks 4th among 8 nearby schools.
Federal data place Altoona Area High School in the City: Small locale, which means it is inside a principal city with a population under 100,000.
Enrollment at Altoona Area High School was 2,208 in 2020-21 and 2,255 in 2024-25, a change of less than 3%.
Parents and students can post about school events, clubs, and volunteer needs at Altoona Area High School. Alumni can share how the school prepared them.
Blair County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
121,277
Census ACS
Median income
$62,382
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
24%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
8%
Below federal line
Schools in county
33
15,692 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Altoona Area SD
- Altoona Area Jr High SchoolMiddle · 1,578 students
- Juniata Gap Elementary SchoolElementary · 490 students
- Juniata Elementary SchoolElementary · 470 students
- Pleasant Valley Elementary SchoolElementary · 439 students
- Logan Elementary SchoolElementary · 428 students
- Mowrie A Ebner Elementary SchoolElementary · 349 students
Other schools in Altoona
- Altoona Area Jr High SchoolMiddle · 1,578 students
- Juniata Gap Elementary SchoolElementary · 490 students
- Juniata Elementary SchoolElementary · 470 students
- Pleasant Valley Elementary SchoolElementary · 439 students
- Logan Elementary SchoolElementary · 428 students
- Mowrie A Ebner Elementary SchoolElementary · 349 students
Nearby schools
- Altoona Area Jr High School0.1 mi · 1,578
- Penn-Lincoln Elementary School0.2 mi · 313
- Greater Altoona Career and Technology Center0.2 mi · 60
- Irving Elementary School1.1 mi · 267
- Pleasant Valley Elementary School1.2 mi · 439
- Baker Elementary School1.8 mi · 263
Frequently asked questions
About Altoona Area High SchoolHow many students attend Altoona Area High School?
Altoona Area High School enrolls approximately 2,255 students in grades 06-12.
What age range does Altoona Area High School serve?
Altoona Area High School serves students from grade 06 through grade 12.
How many students per teacher at Altoona Area High School?
Approximately 16.9:1 students per teacher at Altoona Area High School.
How diverse is Altoona Area High School?
Altoona Area High School reports a student body of 84% White, 3% Hispanic, 11% Black, 1% Asian, 1% Two or more.
Who oversees Altoona Area High School?
Altoona Area High School is overseen by Altoona Area SD in Blair County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.