Ridgway Area HS

Ridgway Area HS is one of the minimally staffed senior highs in Ridgway, Pennsylvania, one of the schools within Ridgway Area SD, with 224 students on its rolls from grades 9 through 12. Compared to the state average of about 738 students per school, that is 70% below typical.

Across the 3 schools in Ridgway Area SD (781 students total), Ridgway Area HS accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

On demographics, Ridgway Area HS records that the student body is overwhelmingly White (95%). Compared to Elk County overall, the school's racial mix sits in roughly the same range.

On the income-and-resources front, Ridgway Area HS lists 19 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 11.8:1. The state averages around 12.8:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. About 39% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. By comparison, Elk County runs at roughly 89%, so the school's eligibility rate is somewhat below the surrounding baseline.

With demographic context factored in, Ridgway Area HS performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 60.8%, the actual is 56.8%, a residual of -3.9 points.

Zooming out to the county, Elk County reports that median household earnings sit near $66,380, about 21% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and the poverty rate sits near 4%. Ridgway Area HS is one of 10 public schools in Elk County (combined enrollment of about 3,139 students).

Ridgway Area MS is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.0 miles from this campus. Counting just inside five miles, 2 other public schools cluster around Ridgway Area HS. Among the 7 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Ridgway Area HS ranks 4th on composite proficiency, above the local average of 54.6%.

The school occupies a town-center site.

Looking at the recent track record. Ridgway Area HS's enrollment has ticked down 17% since 2018, when it stood at 269 (now 224). Class-load math has pulled in: from 14.3:1 in 2018 to 11.8:1 in 2025.

Within the allk12 community for this school, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.