Northwest Area Intermediate Sch

As a small elementary campus in Shickshinny, Pennsylvania, Northwest Area Intermediate Sch educates 260 students from grades 3 through 6, operated by Northwest Area SD. That puts it 41% below the typical public school in Pennsylvania, which averages around 443 students.

Across the 3 schools in Northwest Area SD (881 students total), Northwest Area Intermediate Sch accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

For racial and ethnic makeup, Northwest Area Intermediate Sch lists that nearly all students (93%) are White; the rest breaks down as 6% multiracial. The wider county runs roughly 76% White, putting the school's mix visibly more White than the area baseline.

On the resource side, The school currently runs with 24 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 10.8:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 13.1:1 average. Roughly 55% of students at Northwest Area Intermediate Sch qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. That share is lower than Luzerne County's rate of about 85%.

With demographic context factored in, Northwest Area Intermediate Sch performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 54.0%, the actual is 45.7%, a residual of -8.3 points.

Around the school, ACS estimates for Luzerne County put median household income runs about $63,691, roughly 25% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 11% of residents live below the federal poverty line. In all, Luzerne County runs 65 public schools (combined enrollment of about 45,209 students), of which Northwest Area Intermediate Sch is one.

Nearest neighbor: Ross El Sch, around 3.8 miles off. Within five miles, there are 2 other public schools. Among the 7 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Northwest Area Intermediate Sch ranks 3rd on composite proficiency, higher than the local average of 39.4%.

The school occupies an outlying site.

Trend over the last 7 years. Over the past 7-year window, the student count edged up 18%: 220 students in 2018 compared to 260 in 2025. White enrollment moved from 97% to 93% across the same window.

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