1
What's the biggest difference between Mars Area El Sch and what you expected?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
880
Elementary
DISTRICT 693 · STATE 443
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·MARS AREA SD·NCES 421479001155
Mars Area Elementary School
549 Route 228, Mars, PA 16046 · (724) 625-3161 · Butler County
GRADES 02–04ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL880 STUDENTS
A-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 75% of Pennsylvania public elementary schools
- ATest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- B-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 elementary schools
Student : Teacher
15.9:1
55 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 17.4:1 · STATE 13.1:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
13%
116 students
DISTRICT 12% · 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, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 2 | 266 | 30% |
| Grade 3 | 308 | 35% |
| Grade 4 | 306 | 35% |
Student demographics
17%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 15% · 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
Students here typically continue to
Feeds from
Based on grade levels within Mars Area SD. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
PSSA + Keystone 2024-25 . % Proficient or AdvancedEnglish Language Arts
64.0%
PA avg 51.1% . -14.7pp since 2023
Math
73.7%
PA avg 43.0% . -0.6pp since 2023
What this means: On the PSSA + Keystone, Pennsylvania's statewide test, about 64 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 74 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 15 points since 2023, while math scores have held steady.
PSSA + Keystone results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 64.0% | 73.7% |
| 2023-24 | 78.7% | 74.3% |
% 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
75.2%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
72.0%
based on PA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+3.2pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 75% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 72% 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 Mars Area Elementary School
Mars Area Elementary School's state test result (75.2% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mars Area Elementary School this school | 880 | 13.2% | 75.2% |
| OHara Elementary School Pittsburgh | 726 | 13.8% | 88.3% |
| Ehrman Crest Elementary School Cranberry Township | 837 | 17.9% | 70.8% |
| Bower Hill Elementary School Venetia | 689 | 13.2% | 92.1% |
| Scenic Hills Elementary School Springfield | 675 | 17.0% | 84.0% |
| McKnight Elementary School Pittsburgh | 875 | 15.1% | 80.0% |
Matched among Pennsylvania elementary 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 Mars Area Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Pennsylvania | In Butler County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 75.2% | #199 of 1,396 | #2 of 19 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 73.7% | #218 of 1,511 ▼ 48 | #2 of 19 ▼ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 64.0% | #326 of 1,511 ▼ 183 | #8 of 19 ▼ 7 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 880 | #51 of 1,638 | #1 of 20 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 15.9:1 | #1,383 of 1,528 | #19 of 20 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 17.4% | #1,243 of 1,531 | #8 of 20 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 13.2% | #1,529 of 1,600 | #19 of 20 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +23.2% | #67 of 450 | #3 of 10 |
Ranked against other public elementary 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
880
+82 (+10%) vs 2020
+242% since 1990-91, when it was 257
Student : Teacher
15.9:1
was 15.7:1
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 | 880 | 55.4 | 15.9:1 | 13% (116) |
| 2023-24 | 927 | 58.6 | 15.8:1 | 13% (116) |
| 2022-23 | 907 | 51.4 | 17.6:1 | 13% (116) |
| 2020-21 | 798 | 51 | 15.7:1 | 11% (89) |
| 2017-18 | 714 | 49.9 | 14.3:1 | 8% (58) |
| 2015-16 | 751 | 50 | 15.0:1 | 9% (69) |
| 2010-11 | 709 | 44 | 16.1:1 | 9% (66) |
| 2000-01 | 400 | 25 | 16.0:1 | 9% (36) |
| 1990-91 | 257 | 15 | 17.1:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Mars Area Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students up 23% (714 to 880); teachers up 11% (49.9 to 55.4).
About Mars Area Elementary School
Mars Area Elementary School is a public large elementary school in Mars, Pennsylvania. It educates 880 students in grades 2 through 4. The typical figure for elementary schools in Pennsylvania is about 443 students.
Mars Area SD includes 5 schools. Together they enroll 3,620 students.
Mars Area Elementary School enrolls a student body that is 91% White. It is also 6% Asian and 2% Hispanic. For comparison, Butler County is about 93% White. Mars Area Elementary School has a diversity index of 17%, compared with 70% for all US public school students.
The teaching staff at Mars Area Elementary School is 55.4 full-time-equivalent teachers, and the ratio is 15.9:1. That ratio is over the 13.1:1 average for elementary schools in Pennsylvania. The percentage of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch is 13%. That rate is below the 37% average among public schools in Butler County.
The allk12 Grade for Mars Area Elementary School is A-. Compared with Pennsylvania public elementary schools, the school scored higher than 75% on a mix of test scores, poverty-adjusted results, and recent trend.
The BeatsExpectations prediction for Mars Area Elementary School is 72.0%, and its average proficiency rate on state tests is 75.2%.
Census Bureau estimates for Butler County show that median household income is about $89,843, 39% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 5% of residents live below the federal poverty line. A total of 39 public schools operate in Butler County, serving about 24,616 students.
Nearby, Mars Area Primary Center is about 0.1 miles away. Mars Area Elementary School has at least 8 other public schools within five miles. Nearby schools with test data average 73.1% proficiency; Mars Area Elementary School posts 75.2%.
Mars Area Elementary School is in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more, a location NCES labels Suburb: Large.
The 2024-25 enrollment of 880 was 10% higher than in 2020-21, when it was 798.
Parents and students can post about enrollment questions, class placement, and PTA news at Mars Area Elementary School. Questions from prospective families are welcome too.
Butler County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
197,254
Census ACS
Median income
$89,843
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
39%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
5%
Below federal line
Schools in county
39
24,616 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Mars Area SD
- Mars Area SHSHigh · 1,044 students
- Mars Area Centennial SchoolMiddle · 627 students
- Mars Area Middle SchoolMiddle · 563 students
- Mars Area Primary CenterElementary · 506 students
Other schools in Mars
- Mars Area SHSHigh · 1,044 students
- Mars Area Centennial SchoolMiddle · 627 students
- Mars Area Middle SchoolMiddle · 563 students
- Mars Area Primary CenterElementary · 506 students
Nearby schools
- Mars Area Primary Center0.1 mi · 506
- Mars Area SHS0.4 mi · 1,044
- Mars Area Middle School0.4 mi · 563
- Mars Area Centennial School0.8 mi · 627
- Eden Hall Upper Elementary School2.9 mi · 1,076
- Pine-Richland High School3.1 mi · 1,449
Frequently asked questions
About Mars Area Elementary SchoolHow large is Mars Area Elementary School?
Mars Area Elementary School enrolls approximately 880 students in grades 02-04.
Is Mars Area Elementary School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Mars Area Elementary School is an elementary school covering grades 02-04.
How many teachers does Mars Area Elementary School have?
Mars Area Elementary School employs 55 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 15.9:1.
How diverse is Mars Area Elementary School?
Mars Area Elementary School reports a student body of 91% White, 2% Hispanic, 0% Black, 6% Asian, 1% Two or more.
What district is Mars Area Elementary School in?
Mars Area Elementary School is part of Mars Area SD.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.