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Alumni: what's one memory from James Buchanan HS that still sticks with you?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
721
High
DISTRICT 364 · STATE 738
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·TUSCARORA SD·NCES 422274006280
James Buchanan High School
4773 Fort Loudon Rd, Mercersburg, PA 17236 · (717) 328-2146 · Franklin County
GRADES 09–12HIGH42-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL721 STUDENTS
B
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 61% of Pennsylvania public high schools
- C+Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- A-Beats 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
16.1:1
45 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.4:1 · STATE 12.8:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
98%
706 students
DISTRICT 95% · 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 | 178 | 25% |
| Grade 10 | 164 | 23% |
| Grade 11 | 189 | 26% |
| Grade 12 | 190 | 26% |
Student demographics
16%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 Tuscarora SD. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
PSSA + Keystone 2024-25 . % Proficient or AdvancedEnglish Language Arts
50.0%
PA avg 51.1% . -6.8pp since 2023
Math
30.1%
PA avg 43.0% . -9.8pp since 2023
What this means: On the PSSA + Keystone, Pennsylvania's statewide test, about 50 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 30 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 7 points since 2023, while math scores are down about 10 points.
PSSA + Keystone results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 50.0% | 30.1% |
| 2023-24 | 56.8% | 39.9% |
% 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
47.3%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
35.6%
based on PA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+11.7pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 47% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 36% 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 James Buchanan High School
James Buchanan High School's state test result (47.3% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| James Buchanan High School this school | 721 | 97.9% | 47.3% |
| Warren Area High School Warren | 704 | 98.4% | 54.5% |
| Towanda Area JSHS Towanda | 709 | 98.4% | 45.1% |
| Forest Hills JSHS Sidman | 798 | 99.2% | 48.9% |
| Oil City SHS Oil City | 611 | 100.0% | 46.0% |
| Connellsville Area Career & Technical Center Connellsville | 592 | 98.8% | 22.3% |
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 James Buchanan High School ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Pennsylvania | In Franklin County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 47.3% | #344 of 576 | #5 of 7 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 30.1% | #402 of 626 ▼ 116 | #7 of 7 ▼ 2 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 50.0% | #419 of 626 ▼ 52 | #7 of 7 ▼ 2 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 721 | #263 of 713 | #5 of 9 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 16.1:1 | #483 of 601 | #1 of 6 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 16.4% | #424 of 604 | #6 of 6 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 97.9% | #185 of 619 | #2 of 7 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +2.7% | #174 of 221 | #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
721
+8 (+1%) vs 2020
-16% since 1990-91, when it was 856
Student : Teacher
16.1:1
was 15.8:1
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 | 721 | 44.8 | 16.1:1 | 98% (706) |
| 2023-24 | 706 | 47.7 | 14.8:1 | 100% (706) |
| 2022-23 | 735 | 47.7 | 15.4:1 | 93% (687) |
| 2020-21 | 713 | 45 | 15.8:1 | 33% (238) |
| 2017-18 | 702 | 46.4 | 15.1:1 | 31% (215) |
| 2015-16 | 795 | 46 | 17.3:1 | 30% (241) |
| 2010-11 | 788 | 53 | 14.9:1 | 27% (215) |
| 2000-01 | 756 | 54 | 14.0:1 | 16% (122) |
| 1990-91 | 856 | 59 | 14.5:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for James Buchanan High School.
Since 2017-18: students up 3% (702 to 721); teachers down 4% (46.4 to 44.8).
About James Buchanan High School
Federal records list James Buchanan High School as a high school in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania. The student body numbers 721 students, from grades 9 through 12.
Tuscarora SD has 6 schools; together they serve 2,182 students.
White students make up 91% of enrollment at James Buchanan High School. Next come 4% multiracial and 3% Hispanic. James Buchanan High School's diversity index is 16%, against a US figure of 70%.
A ratio of 16.1:1 comes from the school's 44.8 full-time-equivalent teachers. The school has more students per teacher than the 12.8:1 average for high schools in Pennsylvania. The lunch program counts 98% of students at James Buchanan High School as eligible for free or reduced-price meals. Compared with the 69% average for public schools in Franklin County, the school's rate is higher.
Measured against Pennsylvania public high schools, James Buchanan High School receives a B. The grade weighs proficiency most heavily, then how results compare with what the school's low-income share predicts, then the three-year change.
Given its share of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, James Buchanan High School would be expected to post about 35.6%. Its actual average proficiency rate on state tests is 47.3%.
According to the American Community Survey, in Franklin County, the median household income is $77,003, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 25% of adults, and the poverty rate is about 6%. There are 41 public schools in Franklin County, enrolling about 21,432 students in all.
The nearest other public school, James Buchanan Middle School, is about 0.4 miles away. Inside a five-mile radius, there are 4 other public schools. On average proficiency, James Buchanan High School is 6th of 8 nearby schools with test data.
Its NCES locale code is Rural: Distant: the school is in rural territory some distance from an urban area.
Enrollment in 2024-25 was 721, close to the 713 recorded in 2020-21.
Threads on this page can be about sports schedules, lunch menus, and spirit week. Alumni can share how the school prepared them.
Franklin County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
157,379
Census ACS
Median income
$77,003
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
25%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
6%
Below federal line
Schools in county
41
21,432 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Tuscarora SD
- James Buchanan Middle SchoolMiddle · 535 students
- St Thomas Elementary SchoolElementary · 297 students
- Mercersburg Elementary SchoolElementary · 232 students
- Montgomery Elementary SchoolElementary · 212 students
- Mountain View Elementary SchoolElementary · 185 students
Other schools in Mercersburg
- James Buchanan Middle SchoolMiddle · 535 students
- Mercersburg Elementary SchoolElementary · 232 students
- Montgomery Elementary SchoolElementary · 212 students
- Mountain View Elementary SchoolElementary · 185 students
Nearby schools
- James Buchanan Middle School0.4 mi · 535
- Mercersburg Elementary School1.9 mi · 232
- Mountain View Elementary School2.2 mi · 185
- Montgomery Elementary School3.9 mi · 212
- St Thomas Elementary School7.1 mi · 297
- Fulton County Center for Career and Technology7.2 mi · 1
Frequently asked questions
About James Buchanan High SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at James Buchanan High School?
James Buchanan High School enrolls approximately 721 students in grades 09-12.
What grades does James Buchanan High School serve?
James Buchanan High School serves grades 09-12.
What is the student-teacher ratio at James Buchanan High School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at James Buchanan High School is approximately 16.1:1 (45 FTE teachers).
How diverse is James Buchanan High School?
James Buchanan High School reports a student body of 91% White, 3% Hispanic, 1% Black, 0% Asian, 4% Two or more.
Who oversees James Buchanan High School?
James Buchanan High School is overseen by Tuscarora SD in Franklin County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.