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What do students at Penn Hills SHS actually talk about outside of class?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
1,049
High
DISTRICT 968 · STATE 738
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·PENN HILLS SD·NCES 421859000309
Penn Hills SHS
309 Collins Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15235 · (412) 793-7000 · Allegheny County
GRADES 09–12HIGH21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL1,049 STUDENTS
C-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 15% of Pennsylvania public high schools
- DTest 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
18.7:1
56 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.0:1 · STATE 12.8:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
104%
1,089 students
DISTRICT 103% · 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 | 253 | 24% |
| Grade 10 | 267 | 25% |
| Grade 11 | 272 | 26% |
| Grade 12 | 257 | 24% |
Student demographics
51%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 55% · 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 Penn Hills SD. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
PSSA + Keystone 2024-25 . % Proficient or AdvancedEnglish Language Arts
45.1%
PA avg 51.1% . +17.9pp since 2023
Math
12.8%
PA avg 43.0% . +8.9pp since 2023
What this means: On the PSSA + Keystone, Pennsylvania's statewide test, about 45 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 13 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 18 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 9 points.
PSSA + Keystone results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 45.1% | 12.8% |
| 2023-24 | 27.2% | 3.9% |
% 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
22.6%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
33.1%
based on PA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-10.5pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 23% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 33% 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 →
Where Penn Hills SHS ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Pennsylvania | In Allegheny County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 22.6% | #517 of 576 | #40 of 45 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 12.8% | #543 of 626 ▲ 50 | #42 of 53 ▲ 4 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 45.1% | #471 of 626 ▲ 112 | #36 of 53 ▲ 11 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 1,049 | #162 of 713 | #15 of 59 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 18.7:1 | #561 of 601 | #52 of 52 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 50.7% | #144 of 604 | #18 of 52 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 104% | #53 of 619 | #8 of 52 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -14.4% | #110 of 373 | #10 of 29 |
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
1,049
-76 (-7%) vs 2020
-28% since 1990-91, when it was 1,448
Student : Teacher
18.7:1
was 17.9:1
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 | 1,049 | 56 | 18.7:1 | N/A |
| 2023-24 | 1,090 | 56.8 | 19.2:1 | 100% (1,089) |
| 2022-23 | 1,107 | 62.8 | 17.6:1 | 88% (973) |
| 2020-21 | 1,125 | 63 | 17.9:1 | 92% (1,032) |
| 2017-18 | 1,226 | 82.5 | 14.9:1 | 54% (659) |
| 2015-16 | 1,396 | 95 | 14.7:1 | 62% (861) |
| 2010-11 | 1,527 | 104 | 14.7:1 | 47% (722) |
| 2000-01 | 1,440 | 89 | 16.2:1 | 21% (309) |
| 1990-91 | 1,448 | 91 | 15.9:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Penn Hills SHS.
Since 2017-18: students down 14% (1,226 to 1,049); teachers down 32% (82.5 to 56).
About Penn Hills SHS
Penn Hills SHS is a mid-sized high school based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Its grade span covers grades 9 through 12, with 1,049 students on the rolls. High schools in Pennsylvania average about 738 students, which makes this school 42% above average.
In Penn Hills SD, 3 schools enroll a combined 2,903 students.
The student body at Penn Hills SHS is 67% Black. Other students are 19% White, 8% multiracial, and 5% Hispanic. By comparison, Allegheny County residents are about 13% Black. Its diversity index, the chance that two randomly chosen students belong to different racial or ethnic groups, is 51%.
Its staff includes 56 full-time-equivalent teachers, for about 18.7 students per teacher. The gap from the 12.8:1 average for high schools in Pennsylvania is 6.0 students per teacher.
Penn Hills SHS earns a C- on the allk12 Grade, which blends test scores, results against poverty-based expectations, and the three-year trend. It scored higher than 15% of Pennsylvania public high schools.
Predicted from its free or reduced-price lunch share, Penn Hills SHS would score about 33.1%. It scores 22.6%, 10.5 points below that figure.
The school's county is Allegheny County. According to Census Bureau estimates, median household income comes to about $78,548, 46% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 7% of people live in poverty. There are 277 public schools in the county, enrolling about 141,392, Penn Hills SHS among them.
Linton Middle School, about 1.0 miles away, is the closest public school. Within five miles of Penn Hills SHS, there are at least 8 other public schools. Compared with its nearest neighbors, Penn Hills SHS ranks 6th of 8 on average proficiency.
Penn Hills SHS 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.
Over 4 years, enrollment fell by 76 students, from 1,125 to 1,049.
Anyone can start a thread about fundraisers, report cards, and school supplies at Penn Hills SHS. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to post.
Allegheny County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
1,238,177
Census ACS
Median income
$78,548
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
46%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
277
141,392 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Penn Hills SD
- Penn Hills Elementary SchoolElementary · 1,228 students
- Linton Middle SchoolMiddle · 626 students
Other schools in Pittsburgh
- Mt Lebanon SHSHigh · 1,772 students
- Baldwin SHSHigh · 1,657 students
- North Hills High SchoolHigh · 1,443 students
- Pittsburgh Allderdice High SchoolHigh · 1,386 students
- Fox Chapel Area High SchoolHigh · 1,360 students
- Upper Saint Clair High SchoolHigh · 1,269 students
Nearby schools
- Linton Middle School1.0 mi · 626
- Penn Hills Elementary School1.2 mi · 1,228
- Penn Hills CS of Entrepreneurship1.3 mi · 527
- Wilkins El STEAM Academy2.5 mi · 447
- Evergreen Elementary School2.7 mi · 317
- Life Male STEAM Academy CS2.8 mi · 101
Frequently asked questions
About Penn Hills SHSHow many students attend Penn Hills SHS?
Penn Hills SHS enrolls approximately 1,049 students in grades 09-12.
Is Penn Hills SHS an elementary, middle, or high school?
Penn Hills SHS is a high school covering grades 09-12.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Penn Hills SHS?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Penn Hills SHS is approximately 18.7:1 (56 FTE teachers).
How diverse is Penn Hills SHS?
Penn Hills SHS reports a student body of 19% White, 5% Hispanic, 67% Black, 1% Asian, 8% Two or more.
What district is Penn Hills SHS in?
Penn Hills SHS is part of Penn Hills SD.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.