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Teachers: what resource would make the biggest difference at Mercer Area El Sch this year?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
567
Elementary
DISTRICT 328 · STATE 443
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·MERCER AREA SD·NCES 421512003157
Mercer Area Elementary School
301 Lamor Rd, Mercer, PA 16137 · (724) 662-5102 · Mercer County
GRADES KG–06ELEMENTARY42-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL567 STUDENTS
B+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 72% of Pennsylvania public elementary schools
- B-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- ABeats 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
12.6:1
45 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.3:1 · STATE 13.1:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
102%
576 students
DISTRICT 103% · 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten | 60 | 11% |
| Grade 1 | 78 | 14% |
| Grade 2 | 87 | 15% |
| Grade 3 | 100 | 18% |
| Grade 4 | 69 | 12% |
| Grade 5 | 83 | 15% |
| Grade 6 | 90 | 16% |
This year's kindergarten class (60) is 33% smaller than its 6th grade class (90).
Student demographics
14%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 13% · 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
Based on grade levels within Mercer Area SD. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
PSSA + Keystone 2024-25 . % Proficient or AdvancedEnglish Language Arts
55.7%
PA avg 51.1% . -5.8pp since 2023
Math
49.2%
PA avg 43.0% . -1.0pp since 2023
What this means: On the PSSA + Keystone, Pennsylvania's statewide test, about 56 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 49 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 6 points since 2023, while math scores are down about 1 points.
PSSA + Keystone results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 55.7% | 49.2% |
| 2023-24 | 61.5% | 50.2% |
% 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
OUTPERFORMING
Top 10% of PA schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
56.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
34.0%
based on PA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+22.4pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 57% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 34% 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 22 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 →
Where Mercer Area Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Pennsylvania | In Mercer County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 56.5% | #692 of 1,396 | #7 of 13 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 49.2% | #817 of 1,511 ▼ 65 | #8 of 14 no change |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 55.7% | #567 of 1,511 ▲ 13 | #4 of 14 ▲ 4 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 567 | #336 of 1,638 | #4 of 14 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 12.6:1 | #625 of 1,528 | #7 of 13 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 14.0% | #1,333 of 1,531 | #11 of 13 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 102% | #234 of 1,600 | #2 of 14 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -1.7% | #976 of 1,045 | #10 of 11 |
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
567
+70 (+14%) vs 2020
-36% since 1990-91, when it was 886
Student : Teacher
12.6:1
was 11.0:1
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 | 567 | 45 | 12.6:1 | N/A |
| 2023-24 | 576 | 44.2 | 13.0:1 | 100% (576) |
| 2022-23 | 582 | 44 | 13.2:1 | 100% (582) |
| 2020-21 | 497 | 45 | 11.0:1 | 46% (227) |
| 2017-18 | 577 | 45.7 | 12.6:1 | 46% (265) |
| 2015-16 | 582 | 46 | 12.7:1 | 47% (272) |
| 2010-11 | 644 | 52 | 12.4:1 | 40% (256) |
| 2000-01 | 817 | 47 | 17.4:1 | 26% (210) |
| 1990-91 | 886 | 50 | 17.7:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Mercer Area Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 2% (577 to 567); teachers down 2% (45.7 to 45).
About Mercer Area Elementary School
Mercer Area Elementary School is a mid-sized elementary school for students in Mercer, Pennsylvania. The school teaches kindergarten through 6 and enrolls 567 students. That puts enrollment 28% above the 443-student average for elementary schools in Pennsylvania.
A total of 3 schools make up Mercer Area SD, with 985 students enrolled.
Of every 100 students at Mercer Area Elementary School, about 93 are White. After that, the student body is 5% multiracial. A diversity index of 14% means there is a 14% chance two randomly chosen students at Mercer Area Elementary School are from different groups.
Mercer Area Elementary School has 45 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of about 12.6:1. The ratio is within a point of the 13.1:1 average for elementary schools in Pennsylvania.
Mercer Area Elementary School holds a B+ allk12 Grade, placing it above 72% of Pennsylvania public elementary schools.
Mercer Area Elementary School scores 22.4 points above its predicted average proficiency rate across its state test results: 56.5% actual versus 34.0% predicted. That puts it in the top 10% of Pennsylvania schools on BeatsExpectations.
In Mercer County, the median household earns about $59,976 a year, about 26% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and the poverty rate is about 10%. Across Mercer County, 37 public schools serve about 12,815 students.
Measured in a straight line, Mercer Area Middle School is about 0.3 miles from Mercer Area Elementary School. The five-mile area around Mercer Area Elementary School holds 3 other public schools. The nearest schools with test data average 52.9%, lower than Mercer Area Elementary School's 56.5%.
The school's setting, by NCES definition, is Rural: Distant: in rural territory some distance from an urban area.
Since 2020-21, enrollment has grown 14%, from 497 to 567. Over the same period, the student-to-teacher ratio increased to 12.6:1, from 11.0:1.
Anyone can start a thread about open houses, carpools, and field trips at Mercer Area Elementary School. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to post.
Mercer County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
109,257
Census ACS
Median income
$59,976
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
26%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
10%
Below federal line
Schools in county
37
12,815 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Mercer Area SD
- Mercer Area SHSHigh · 282 students
- Mercer Area Middle SchoolMiddle · 136 students
Other schools in Mercer
- Mercer Area SHSHigh · 282 students
- Mercer Area Middle SchoolMiddle · 136 students
- Mercer County Career CenterHigh · 8 students
Nearby schools
- Mercer Area Middle School0.3 mi · 136
- Mercer Area SHS0.3 mi · 282
- Mercer County Career Center1.5 mi · 8
- Wilmington Area Elementary School8.6 mi · 357
- Wilmington Area Upper Elementary School8.6 mi · 142
- Wilmington Area JSHS8.6 mi · 444
Frequently asked questions
About Mercer Area Elementary SchoolHow large is Mercer Area Elementary School?
Mercer Area Elementary School enrolls approximately 567 students in grades KG-06.
What age range does Mercer Area Elementary School serve?
Mercer Area Elementary School serves students from grade KG through grade 06.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Mercer Area Elementary School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Mercer Area Elementary School is approximately 12.6:1 (45 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Mercer Area Elementary School?
At Mercer Area Elementary School, the student body is approximately 93% White, 1% Hispanic, 1% Black, 0% Asian, 5% Two or more.
What district is Mercer Area Elementary School in?
Mercer Area Elementary School is part of Mercer Area SD.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.