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Parents: what's one thing you'd want the Forest Hills El Sch administration to hear?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
994
Elementary
DISTRICT 896 · STATE 443
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·FOREST HILLS SD·NCES 420994006899
Forest Hills El Sch
547 Locust Street, Sidman, PA 15955 · (814) 487-7613 · Cambria County
GRADES PK–06ELEMENTARY41-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL994 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
14.1:1
70 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.2:1 · STATE 13.1:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
97%
966 students
DISTRICT 98% · STATE 75%
Community
1
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade
Student demographics
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
School pathway
Students here typically continue to
Forest Hills El Sch→Forest Hills JSHS
Based on grade levels within Forest Hills SD. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
PSSA + Keystone 2024-25 . % Proficient or AdvancedEnglish Language Arts
52.4%
PA avg 51.1% . -4.8pp since 2023
Math
56.6%
PA avg 43.0% . -3.2pp since 2023
What this means: On the PSSA + Keystone, Pennsylvania's statewide test, about 52 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 57 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 5 points since 2023, while math scores are down about 3 points.
Source: PSSA + Keystone. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
OUTPERFORMING
Top 10% of PA schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
59.8%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
35.9%
based on PA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+23.8pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 60% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 36% typical for Pennsylvania schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations ranks schools against others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school can post high scores and still fall short of its prediction, or post lower scores and still beat it. This school clears its prediction by about 24 points, placing it in Pennsylvania's top 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
7-year change
SY 2017-18 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
994
-28 (-3%) vs 2017
Student : Teacher
14.1:1
was 15.7:1
% White
96%
was 97%
% Hispanic
2%
was 1%
% Black
1%
was 0%
% Asian
0%
was 0%
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
About Forest Hills El Sch
Forest Hills El Sch is a sizable elementary campus in Sidman, Pennsylvania, run under Forest Hills SD. The school enrolls 994 students in grades pre-K through 6. By comparison, Pennsylvania's public schools average about 443 students each, so Forest Hills El Sch sits 124% larger than that benchmark.
Forest Hills SD runs 2 schools in total, collectively educating 1,792 students. Forest Hills El Sch is one of those campuses.
Looking at the student body, Forest Hills El Sch lists that nearly all students (96%) are White.
Looking at the economic backdrop, The school reports having 70 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 14.1:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 13.1:1, putting Forest Hills El Sch higher than the state norm the norm. An estimated 97% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy. Set against Cambria County (around 73%), the school's rate is somewhat above typical.
With demographic context factored in, Forest Hills El Sch ranks in the top 10% of Pennsylvania public schools. The BeatsExpectations model, a per-state regression of composite proficiency on FRL share, predicts schools with this student profile to land around 35.9%; Forest Hills El Sch posts 59.8%, +23.8 points above that line.
Around the school, the surrounding county (Cambria County) shows that the typical household earns roughly $58,418 per year, 24% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 9%. Forest Hills El Sch is one of 37 public schools in Cambria County (combined enrollment of about 15,789 students).
Nearest neighbor: Forest Hills JSHS, around 0.1 miles off. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a ten-mile radius, suggesting a relatively low-density school footprint. On composite proficiency, Forest Hills El Sch comes 4th of 5 in the immediate cluster, behind the nearby-schools average of 63.1%.
Forest Hills El Sch operates from a small-town location.
Looking at the recent track record. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Forest Hills El Sch has fell 3%, going from 1,022 students in 2018 to 994 in 2025. The student-to-teacher ratio pulled in from 15.7:1 in 2018 to 14.1:1 today.
On the community side, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around sports schedules, lunch menu changes, and school spirit week. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.
Cambria County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
131,538
Census ACS
Median income
$58,418
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
24%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
9%
Below federal line
Schools in county
37
15,789 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Nearby schools
- Forest Hills JSHS0.1 mi · 798
- Greater Johnstown Career and Technology Center5.7 mi · 14
- Portage Area JSHS5.9 mi · 339
- Portage Area El Sch6.1 mi · 401
- Richland El Sch6.2 mi · 831
- Richland HS6.3 mi · 693
Frequently asked questions
About Forest Hills El SchWhat is the total enrollment at Forest Hills El Sch?
Forest Hills El Sch enrolls approximately 994 students in grades PK-06.
Is Forest Hills El Sch an elementary, middle, or high school?
Forest Hills El Sch is an elementary school covering grades PK-06.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Forest Hills El Sch?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Forest Hills El Sch is approximately 14.1:1 (70 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Forest Hills El Sch?
At Forest Hills El Sch, the student body is approximately 96% White, 2% Hispanic, 1% Black, 2% Two or more.
What district is Forest Hills El Sch in?
Forest Hills El Sch is part of Forest Hills SD.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.