1
What's something Northern HS does better than most schools?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
982
High
DISTRICT 535 · STATE 738
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·NORTHERN YORK COUNTY SD·NCES 421776006345
Northern High School
653 S Baltimore St, Dillsburg, PA 17019 · (717) 432-8691 · York County
GRADES 09–12HIGH41-RURALREGULAR SCHOOL982 STUDENTS
B-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 45% of Pennsylvania public high schools
- BTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- C-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
15.7:1
62 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.7:1 · STATE 12.8:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
23%
230 students
DISTRICT 30% · 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 | 260 | 26% |
| Grade 10 | 245 | 25% |
| Grade 11 | 227 | 23% |
| Grade 12 | 250 | 25% |
Student demographics
21%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 22% · 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 Northern York County SD. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
PSSA + Keystone 2024-25 . % Proficient or AdvancedEnglish Language Arts
66.1%
PA avg 51.1% . -4.5pp since 2023
Math
54.1%
PA avg 43.0% . +23.0pp since 2023
What this means: On the PSSA + Keystone, Pennsylvania's statewide test, about 66 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 54 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 5 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 23 points.
PSSA + Keystone results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 66.1% | 54.1% |
| 2023-24 | 70.6% | 31.1% |
% 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
55.4%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
67.6%
based on PA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-12.2pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 55% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 68% 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 Northern High School
Northern High School's state test result (55.4% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northern High School this school | 982 | 23.4% | 55.4% |
| Penn Trafford High School Harrison City | 1,167 | 25.0% | 87.0% |
| Susquehannock High School Glen Rock | 857 | 27.9% | 64.3% |
| Red Land SHS Lewisberry | 1,061 | 28.6% | 59.2% |
| Bethel Park High School Bethel Park | 1,244 | 21.5% | 65.5% |
| Lower Dauphin High School Hummelstown | 1,057 | 26.5% | 64.2% |
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 Northern High School ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Pennsylvania | In York County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 55.4% | #223 of 576 | #12 of 17 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 54.1% | #170 of 626 ▲ 219 | #9 of 17 ▲ 6 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 66.1% | #216 of 626 ▼ 33 | #11 of 17 ▲ 1 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 982 | #184 of 713 | #10 of 18 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 15.7:1 | #455 of 601 | #13 of 17 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 20.8% | #373 of 604 | #16 of 17 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 23.4% | #574 of 619 | #17 of 17 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -2.2% | #331 of 373 | #9 of 11 |
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
982
-77 (-7%) vs 2020
+32% since 1990-91, when it was 744
Student : Teacher
15.7:1
was 16.6:1
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 | 982 | 62.5 | 15.7:1 | 23% (230) |
| 2023-24 | 998 | 64.5 | 15.5:1 | 23% (230) |
| 2022-23 | 1,051 | 62.5 | 16.8:1 | 21% (222) |
| 2020-21 | 1,059 | 64 | 16.6:1 | 20% (211) |
| 2017-18 | 1,004 | 67.8 | 14.8:1 | 18% (184) |
| 2015-16 | 995 | 67 | 14.8:1 | 20% (203) |
| 2010-11 | 1,047 | 71 | 14.8:1 | 12% (124) |
| 2000-01 | 942 | 61 | 15.4:1 | 4% (38) |
| 1990-91 | 744 | 57 | 13.1:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Northern High School.
Since 2017-18: students down 2% (1,004 to 982); teachers down 8% (67.8 to 62.5).
About Northern High School
Northern High School is a medium-sized high school in Dillsburg, Pennsylvania, administered by Northern York County SD. The latest federal count shows 982 students in grades 9 through 12. The average for high schools in Pennsylvania is about 738 students, so this school is 33% above average.
Northern York County SD has 3,209 students in 6 schools, and Northern High School is one of those schools.
The student body at Northern High School is 89% White. The rest of enrollment is 5% Hispanic, 2% Asian, and 2% multiracial. The school's diversity index is 21%, meaning two students picked at random have a 21% chance of belonging to different racial or ethnic groups.
The teaching staff at Northern High School is 62.5 full-time-equivalent teachers, and the ratio is 15.7:1. The school has more students per teacher than the 12.8:1 average for high schools in Pennsylvania. About 23% of students, or 230, qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. On average, public schools in York County report 53%.
allk12 grades Northern High School a B-. The grade compares the school only with Pennsylvania public high schools, because each state gives its own test.
Given its share of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, Northern High School would be expected to post about 67.6%. Its actual average proficiency rate on state tests is 55.4%.
County data help place the school in context: in York County, the median household income is $84,829, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 28% of adults, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 6%. York County is home to 111 public schools and about 64,242 public school students.
The shortest distance from Northern High School to another public school is about 0.1 miles, to Northern Middle School. Other public schools within five miles: 4. The school's 55.4% average proficiency ranks 7th among 9 nearby schools.
The National Center for Education Statistics classifies the school's location as Rural: Fringe, meaning it is in rural territory close to an urban area.
Over 4 years, Northern High School's enrollment declined 7%, to 982.
The allk12 site hosts a discussion page for Northern High School covering things like sports tryouts, band and choir, and theater. Reviews and ratings from people who know the school are welcome.
York County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
462,924
Census ACS
Median income
$84,829
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
28%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
6%
Below federal line
Schools in county
111
64,242 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Northern York County SD
- Northern Middle SchoolMiddle · 757 students
- Dillsburg Elementary SchoolElementary · 440 students
- Northern Elementary SchoolElementary · 397 students
- South Mountain Elementary SchoolElementary · 389 students
- Wellsville CampusElementary · 244 students
Other schools in Dillsburg
- Northern Middle SchoolMiddle · 757 students
- Dillsburg Elementary SchoolElementary · 440 students
- Northern Elementary SchoolElementary · 397 students
- South Mountain Elementary SchoolElementary · 389 students
Other Northern High schools
3 other US public schools in 4 states are named Northern High. Northern High School is the 4th largest of the 4.
- Northern HighOwings, MD · 1,478 students
- Northern HighDurham, NC · 1,281 students
- Northern High SchoolGRAND RAPIDS, MI · 1,088 students
Nearby schools
- Northern Middle School0.1 mi · 757
- Northern Elementary School0.1 mi · 397
- Dillsburg Elementary School0.8 mi · 440
- South Mountain Elementary School1.6 mi · 389
- Monroe Elementary School5.6 mi · 512
- Wellsville Campus5.8 mi · 244
Frequently asked questions
About Northern High SchoolHow many students attend Northern High School?
Northern High School enrolls approximately 982 students in grades 09-12.
What grades does Northern High School serve?
Northern High School serves grades 09-12.
How many students per teacher at Northern High School?
Approximately 15.7:1 students per teacher at Northern High School.
What is the student diversity at Northern High School?
Student demographics at Northern High School are roughly 89% White, 5% Hispanic, 2% Black, 2% Asian, 2% Two or more.
What district is Northern High School in?
Northern High School is part of Northern York County SD.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.