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Teachers: what resource would make the biggest difference at Fort Cherry JSHS this year?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
457
High
DISTRICT 456 · STATE 738
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·FORT CHERRY SD·NCES 420996004242
Fort Cherry JSHS
110 Fort Cherry Road, Mc Donald, PA 15057 · (724) 796-1551 · Washington County
GRADES 07–12HIGH41-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL457 STUDENTS
C+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 38% 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.
- 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
12.3:1
37 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 12.2:1 · STATE 12.8:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
51%
231 students
DISTRICT 51% · 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 7 | 86 | 19% |
| Grade 8 | 66 | 14% |
| Grade 9 | 77 | 17% |
| Grade 10 | 75 | 16% |
| Grade 11 | 59 | 13% |
| Grade 12 | 94 | 21% |
Student demographics
19%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 19% · 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
School pathway
Feeds from
Based on grade levels within Fort Cherry SD. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
PSSA + Keystone 2024-25 . % Proficient or AdvancedEnglish Language Arts
67.1%
PA avg 51.1% . +0.7pp since 2023
Math
29.3%
PA avg 43.0% . +9.0pp since 2023
What this means: On the PSSA + Keystone, Pennsylvania's statewide test, about 67 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 29 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Pennsylvania schools, those numbers are about 51 and 43. Reading and writing scores have held steady since 2023, while math scores are up about 9 points.
PSSA + Keystone results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 67.1% | 29.3% |
| 2023-24 | 66.4% | 20.3% |
% 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
48.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
55.9%
based on PA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-7.0pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 49% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 56% 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 Fort Cherry JSHS
Fort Cherry JSHS's state test result (48.9% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Cherry JSHS this school | 457 | 50.5% | 48.9% |
| Central High School Martinsburg | 504 | 49.6% | 48.6% |
| Bedford SHS Bedford | 495 | 51.3% | 64.8% |
| Lackawanna Trail JSHS Factoryville | 427 | 49.9% | 53.1% |
| Northwest Area High School Shickshinny | 406 | 48.8% | 42.2% |
| Tyrone Area High School Tyrone | 503 | 51.1% | 64.9% |
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 Fort Cherry JSHS ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Pennsylvania | In Washington County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 48.9% | #321 of 576 | #6 of 14 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 29.3% | #415 of 626 ▲ 78 | #10 of 14 ▲ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 67.1% | #205 of 626 ▲ 26 | #3 of 14 ▲ 2 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 457 | #438 of 713 | #8 of 16 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 12.3:1 | #150 of 601 | #6 of 14 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 18.7% | #392 of 604 | #8 of 14 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 50.5% | #347 of 619 | #6 of 14 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -8.4% | #218 of 373 | #6 of 6 |
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
457
+5 (+1%) vs 2020
-31% since 1990-91, when it was 663
Student : Teacher
12.3:1
was 12.2:1
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 | 457 | 37.3 | 12.3:1 | 51% (231) |
| 2023-24 | 456 | 36.1 | 12.6:1 | 51% (231) |
| 2022-23 | 450 | 37.3 | 12.1:1 | 38% (171) |
| 2020-21 | 452 | 37 | 12.2:1 | 38% (171) |
| 2017-18 | 499 | 38.6 | 12.9:1 | 37% (185) |
| 2015-16 | 516 | 43 | 12.0:1 | 40% (204) |
| 2010-11 | 545 | 48 | 11.3:1 | 28% (152) |
| 2000-01 | 695 | 43 | 16.2:1 | 28% (192) |
| 1990-91 | 663 | 44 | 15.1:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Fort Cherry JSHS.
Since 2017-18: students down 8% (499 to 457); teachers down 3% (38.6 to 37.3).
About Fort Cherry JSHS
Families in Mc Donald, Pennsylvania, are served by Fort Cherry JSHS, a small high school. It enrolled 457 students in grades 7 through 12 for the 2024-25 school year. Enrollment is 38% lower than the average for high schools in Pennsylvania, which is about 738.
Fort Cherry JSHS is one of the 2 schools that make up Fort Cherry SD (912 students in total).
The student body at Fort Cherry JSHS is 90% White. Other groups include 6% multiracial and 2% Hispanic. The county population is about 90% White, within a few points of the school. Fort Cherry JSHS's diversity index is 19%, against a US figure of 70%.
With 37.3 full-time-equivalent teachers in 2024-25, the ratio at Fort Cherry JSHS was 12.3:1. That is close to the 12.8:1 average for high schools in Pennsylvania. Fort Cherry JSHS's free or reduced-price lunch eligibility rate is 51%. For comparison, public schools in Washington County average 49%.
Measured against Pennsylvania public high schools, Fort Cherry JSHS receives a C+. The grade weighs proficiency most heavily, then how results compare with what the school's low-income share predicts, then the three-year change.
Based on its free or reduced-price lunch share, the BeatsExpectations model predicts an average proficiency rate on state tests of 55.9% for Fort Cherry JSHS. The school posts 48.9%, 7.0 points below the prediction.
County data help place the school in context: in Washington County, the median household income is $78,958, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 33%, and about 6% of people live in poverty. In all, Washington County has 56 public schools and roughly 26,079 students.
The shortest distance from Fort Cherry JSHS to another public school is less than a tenth of a mile, to Fort Cherry El Center. Other public schools within five miles: 2. Fort Cherry JSHS comes in 8th of 8 nearby schools on average proficiency.
The school's setting, by NCES definition, is Rural: Fringe: in rural territory close to an urban area.
From 2020-21 to 2024-25, enrollment held near 457, starting from 452.
The discussion area below is open to posts about sports tryouts, band and choir, and theater. Questions from prospective families are welcome too.
Washington County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
210,042
Census ACS
Median income
$78,958
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
33%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
6%
Below federal line
Schools in county
56
26,079 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Mc Donald
- Fort Cherry El CenterElementary · 455 students
- Cecil Intrmd SchoolMiddle · 412 students
Nearby schools
- Fort Cherry El Center0.1 mi · 455
- Cecil Intrmd School3.5 mi · 412
- Donaldson Elementary School5.6 mi · 535
- Muse Elementary School5.7 mi · 759
- South Fayette Elementary School6.1 mi · 717
- South Fayette Middle School6.1 mi · 859
Frequently asked questions
About Fort Cherry JSHSHow many students attend Fort Cherry JSHS?
Fort Cherry JSHS enrolls approximately 457 students in grades 07-12.
Is Fort Cherry JSHS an elementary, middle, or high school?
Fort Cherry JSHS is a high school covering grades 07-12.
How many teachers does Fort Cherry JSHS have?
Fort Cherry JSHS employs 37 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 12.3:1.
How diverse is Fort Cherry JSHS?
Fort Cherry JSHS reports a student body of 90% White, 2% Hispanic, 1% Black, 0% Asian, 6% Two or more.
Who oversees Fort Cherry JSHS?
Fort Cherry JSHS is overseen by Fort Cherry SD in Washington County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.