1
What's the one class at Mars Area SHS every student should take?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
1,044
High
DISTRICT 724 · STATE 738
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·MARS AREA SD·NCES 421479001159
Mars Area SHS
520 Route 228, Mars, PA 16046 · (724) 625-1581 · Butler County
GRADES 09–12HIGH21-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL1,044 STUDENTS
A-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 77% of Pennsylvania public high 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 high schools
Student : Teacher
10.9:1
96 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.2:1 · STATE 12.8:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
12%
127 students
DISTRICT 12% · 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 | 245 | 23% |
| Grade 10 | 252 | 24% |
| Grade 11 | 272 | 26% |
| Grade 12 | 275 | 26% |
Student demographics
12%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
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
79.8%
PA avg 51.1% . +2.8pp since 2023
Math
64.6%
PA avg 43.0% . +5.0pp since 2023
What this means: On the PSSA + Keystone, Pennsylvania's statewide test, about 80 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 65 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Pennsylvania schools, those numbers are about 51 and 43. Reading and writing scores are up about 3 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 5 points.
PSSA + Keystone results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 79.8% | 64.6% |
| 2023-24 | 77.0% | 59.6% |
% 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
70.7%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
72.4%
based on PA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-1.7pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 71% 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 SHS
Mars Area SHS's state test result (70.7% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mars Area SHS this school | 1,044 | 12.2% | 70.7% |
| Peters Twp High School McMurray | 1,267 | 11.1% | 84.6% |
| Hampton High School Allison Park | 865 | 19.4% | 81.9% |
| Bethel Park High School Bethel Park | 1,244 | 21.5% | 65.5% |
| Northern High School Dillsburg | 982 | 23.4% | 55.4% |
| West Chester Bayard Rustin High School West Chester | 1,159 | 19.9% | 61.1% |
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 Mars Area SHS ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Pennsylvania | In Butler County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 70.7% | #67 of 576 | #2 of 7 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 64.6% | #81 of 626 ▲ 15 | #2 of 8 no change |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 79.8% | #70 of 626 ▲ 35 | #2 of 8 ▲ 1 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 1,044 | #164 of 713 | #3 of 10 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 10.9:1 | #55 of 601 | #1 of 8 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 12.3% | #483 of 604 | #3 of 8 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 12.2% | #609 of 619 | #8 of 8 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -4.0% | #298 of 373 | #5 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
1,044
+11 (+1%) vs 2020
+84% since 1990-91, when it was 567
Student : Teacher
10.9:1
was 16.4:1
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 | 1,044 | 95.8 | 10.9:1 | 12% (127) |
| 2023-24 | 1,048 | 95.7 | 10.9:1 | 12% (127) |
| 2022-23 | 1,054 | 69.5 | 15.2:1 | 12% (124) |
| 2020-21 | 1,033 | 63 | 16.4:1 | 4% (41) |
| 2017-18 | 1,087 | 68.8 | 15.8:1 | N/A |
| 2015-16 | 1,031 | 68 | 15.2:1 | 3% (33) |
| 2010-11 | 1,003 | 64 | 15.7:1 | 8% (78) |
| 2000-01 | 817 | 58 | 14.1:1 | 9% (71) |
| 1990-91 | 567 | 43 | 13.2:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Mars Area SHS.
Since 2017-18: students down 4% (1,087 to 1,044); teachers up 39% (68.8 to 95.8).
About Mars Area SHS
Mars Area SHS is a medium-sized high school in Mars, Pennsylvania, one of the schools in Mars Area SD. The school had 1,044 students in grades 9 through 12 in 2024-25. Average enrollment for high schools in Pennsylvania is about 738, so this school runs 41% larger than that.
Mars Area SD includes 5 schools. Together they enroll 3,620 students.
About 94% of the student body at Mars Area SHS is White. Other reported shares: 3% Asian. The White share in Butler County as a whole is similar, at about 93%. Pick two students at random and there is a 12% chance they belong to different racial or ethnic groups; that figure is the school's diversity index.
The school reports 95.8 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to about 10.9 students per teacher. The school has fewer students per teacher than the 12.8:1 average for high schools in Pennsylvania. The free or reduced-price lunch share, often used to gauge student poverty, is 12%. Compared with the 37% average for public schools in Butler County, the school's rate is lower.
Measured against Pennsylvania public high schools, Mars Area SHS receives an A-. The grade weighs proficiency most heavily, then how results compare with what the school's low-income share predicts, then the three-year change.
After adjusting for student poverty, Mars Area SHS lands between the top and bottom 10% of Pennsylvania schools. Its average proficiency rate on state tests is 70.7%; the prediction is 72.4%.
In the county around the school, Butler County, the median household income is $89,843, about 39% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and roughly 5% of residents are in poverty. Butler County is home to 39 public schools and about 24,616 public school students.
Mars Area Middle School is the closest public school, about 0.3 miles away in a straight line. Other public schools within five miles number at least 8. Among 8 nearby schools that report test results, Mars Area SHS ranks 5th on proficiency.
Federal records code the school's setting as Suburb: Large.
In 2020-21, Mars Area SHS enrolled 1,033; in 2024-25, 1,044. Its ratio of students to teachers was 16.4:1 in 2020-21, and 10.9:1 in 2024-25.
The discussion area below is open to posts about sports schedules, lunch menus, and spirit week. Reviews and ratings from people who know the school are welcome.
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 Elementary SchoolElementary · 880 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 Elementary SchoolElementary · 880 students
- Mars Area Centennial SchoolMiddle · 627 students
- Mars Area Middle SchoolMiddle · 563 students
- Mars Area Primary CenterElementary · 506 students
Nearby schools
- Mars Area Middle School0.3 mi · 563
- Mars Area Primary Center0.3 mi · 506
- Mars Area Elementary School0.4 mi · 880
- Mars Area Centennial School0.7 mi · 627
- Eden Hall Upper Elementary School2.5 mi · 1,076
- Richland Elementary School2.7 mi · 470
Frequently asked questions
About Mars Area SHSHow many students attend Mars Area SHS?
Mars Area SHS enrolls approximately 1,044 students in grades 09-12.
Is Mars Area SHS an elementary, middle, or high school?
Mars Area SHS is a high school covering grades 09-12.
How many teachers does Mars Area SHS have?
Mars Area SHS employs 96 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 10.9:1.
What is the student diversity at Mars Area SHS?
Student demographics at Mars Area SHS are roughly 94% White, 2% Hispanic, 1% Black, 3% Asian, 0% Two or more.
What district is Mars Area SHS in?
Mars Area SHS is part of Mars Area SD.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.