1
What's the vibe like in the hallways at Central Dauphin SHS right now?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
1,966
High
DISTRICT 1,770 · STATE 738
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CENTRAL DAUPHIN SD·NCES 420540001745
Central Dauphin SHS
437 Piketown Road, Harrisburg, PA 17112 · (717) 703-5360 · Dauphin County
GRADES 09–12HIGH21-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL1,966 STUDENTS
C+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 43% of Pennsylvania public high schools
- BTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- CBeats 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
15.2:1
129 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.4:1 · STATE 12.8:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
37%
718 students
DISTRICT 87% · 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 9 | 501 | 25% |
| Grade 10 | 492 | 25% |
| Grade 11 | 502 | 26% |
| Grade 12 | 471 | 24% |
Student demographics
59%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 74% · 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
64.8%
PA avg 51.1% . -7.9pp since 2023
Math
38.7%
PA avg 43.0% . -5.2pp since 2023
What this means: On the PSSA + Keystone, Pennsylvania's statewide test, about 65 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 39 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 8 points since 2023, while math scores are down about 5 points.
PSSA + Keystone results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 64.8% | 38.7% |
| 2023-24 | 72.7% | 43.9% |
% 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
52.7%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
62.0%
based on PA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-9.3pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 53% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 62% 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 Central Dauphin SHS
Central Dauphin SHS's state test result (52.7% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Central Dauphin SHS this school | 1,966 | 36.5% | 52.7% |
| Manheim Twp High School Lancaster | 1,953 | 32.5% | 67.8% |
| Abington SHS Abington | 2,692 | 35.1% | 60.1% |
| Souderton Area High School Souderton | 2,121 | 29.3% | 69.8% |
| Pennsbury High School Fairless Hills | 2,847 | 30.1% | 62.7% |
| Plymouth-Whitemarsh SHS Plymouth Meeting | 1,637 | 31.9% | 80.5% |
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 Central Dauphin SHS ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Pennsylvania | In Dauphin County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 52.7% | #260 of 576 | #5 of 14 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 38.7% | #316 of 626 ▼ 73 | #6 of 15 ▲ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 64.8% | #236 of 626 ▼ 86 | #6 of 15 no change |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 1,966 | #37 of 713 | #1 of 16 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 15.2:1 | #423 of 601 | #12 of 14 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 59.4% | #93 of 604 | #6 of 14 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 36.5% | #490 of 619 | #11 of 14 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +15.2% | #53 of 221 | #2 of 7 |
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
1,966
+141 (+8%) vs 2020
+88% since 1990-91, when it was 1,045
Student : Teacher
15.2:1
was 15.2:1
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 | 1,966 | 129.3 | 15.2:1 | 37% (718) |
| 2023-24 | 1,998 | 124.6 | 16.0:1 | 36% (718) |
| 2022-23 | 1,975 | 122.1 | 16.2:1 | 33% (643) |
| 2020-21 | 1,825 | 120 | 15.2:1 | 23% (423) |
| 2017-18 | 1,707 | 114.5 | 14.9:1 | 24% (405) |
| 2015-16 | 1,697 | 115 | 14.8:1 | 21% (357) |
| 2010-11 | 1,842 | 130 | 14.2:1 | 13% (231) |
| 2000-01 | 1,757 | 111 | 15.8:1 | 4% (62) |
| 1990-91 | 1,045 | 79 | 13.2:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Central Dauphin SHS.
Since 2017-18: students up 15% (1,707 to 1,966); teachers up 13% (114.5 to 129.3).
About Central Dauphin SHS
Central Dauphin SHS is a large high school that serves part of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. It had 1,966 students in 2024-25, spanning grades 9 through 12. By comparison, high schools in Pennsylvania enroll about 738 students on average.
Within Central Dauphin SD, Central Dauphin SHS is one of 19 schools. The district enrolls 12,389 students.
More than half of the students at Central Dauphin SHS are White (60%). Next come 13% Black, 10% Asian, 10% Hispanic, and 7% multiracial. That is in line with Dauphin County, where about 63% of residents are White. Measured by the diversity index, the student body scores 59%.
The student-to-teacher ratio at Central Dauphin SHS is 15.2:1, based on 129.3 full-time-equivalent teachers. The average for high schools in Pennsylvania is 12.8:1, so this school has more students per teacher. Central Dauphin SHS counts 37% of students as eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. For comparison, public schools in Dauphin County average 59%.
Central Dauphin SHS earns a C+ on the allk12 Grade, which blends test scores, results against poverty-based expectations, and the three-year trend. It scored higher than 43% of Pennsylvania public high schools.
Given its share of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, Central Dauphin SHS would be expected to post about 62.0%. Its actual average proficiency rate across its state test results is 52.7%.
In the surrounding county, Dauphin County, the median household earns about $76,242 a year, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 34%, and about 9% of people live in poverty. Counting Central Dauphin SHS, Dauphin County has 75 public schools.
Linglestown Elementary School is the nearest public school to Central Dauphin SHS, about 2.0 miles away. Other public schools within five miles number at least 8. Among 9 nearby schools that report test results, Central Dauphin SHS ranks 7th on proficiency.
NCES assigns Central Dauphin SHS the locale Suburb: Large, meaning in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
Enrollment rose by 8% across 4 years, from 1,825 in 2020-21 to 1,966 in 2024-25.
Anyone can start a thread about fundraisers, report cards, and school supplies at Central Dauphin SHS. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to post.
Dauphin County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
289,593
Census ACS
Median income
$76,242
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
34%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
9%
Below federal line
Schools in county
75
72,718 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Central Dauphin SD
- Central Dauphin East SHSHigh · 1,573 students
- Linglestown Middle SchoolMiddle · 841 students
- Central Dauphin Middle SchoolMiddle · 834 students
- North Side Elementary SchoolElementary · 722 students
- Central Dauphin East Middle SchoolMiddle · 702 students
- Paxtonia Elementary SchoolElementary · 682 students
Other schools in Harrisburg
- Commonwealth Charter Academy CSCombined · 29,320 students
- Reach Cyber CSCombined · 5,721 students
- Central Dauphin East SHSHigh · 1,573 students
- Harrisburg High SchoolHigh · 1,343 students
- Dauphin County Technical SchoolHigh · 1,187 students
- Linglestown Middle SchoolMiddle · 841 students
Nearby schools
- Linglestown Elementary School2.0 mi · 475
- Linglestown Middle School2.0 mi · 841
- West Hanover Elementary School2.1 mi · 589
- Paxtonia Elementary School2.4 mi · 682
- Mountain View Elementary School2.9 mi · 373
- Dauphin County Technical School4.1 mi · 1,187
Frequently asked questions
About Central Dauphin SHSHow large is Central Dauphin SHS?
Central Dauphin SHS enrolls approximately 1,966 students in grades 09-12.
What age range does Central Dauphin SHS serve?
Central Dauphin SHS serves students from grade 09 through grade 12.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Central Dauphin SHS?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Central Dauphin SHS is approximately 15.2:1 (129 FTE teachers).
What is the student diversity at Central Dauphin SHS?
Student demographics at Central Dauphin SHS are roughly 60% White, 10% Hispanic, 13% Black, 10% Asian, 7% Two or more.
Who oversees Central Dauphin SHS?
Central Dauphin SHS is overseen by Central Dauphin SD in Dauphin County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.