Enrollment
348
High
DISTRICT 398 · STATE 738
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·SOUTHERN COLUMBIA AREA SD·NCES 422226001627
Southern Columbia High School
812 Southern Drive, Catawissa, PA 17820 · (570) 356-3450 · Columbia County
GRADES 09–12HIGH42-RURALREGULAR SCHOOL348 STUDENTS
C+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 44% 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
12.3:1
28 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 12.9:1 · STATE 12.8:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
28%
96 students
DISTRICT 34% · STATE 75%
Community
0
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 | 71 | 20% |
| Grade 10 | 81 | 23% |
| Grade 11 | 96 | 28% |
| Grade 12 | 100 | 29% |
Student demographics
13%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 11% · 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 Southern Columbia Area SD. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
QUIET COMMUNITY
Be the first to start a discussion at Southern Columbia High School.
START A DISCUSSIONTest scores
PSSA + Keystone 2024-25 . % Proficient or AdvancedEnglish Language Arts
56.2%
PA avg 51.1% . -0.9pp since 2023
Math
76.1%
PA avg 43.0% . +14.9pp 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 76 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Pennsylvania schools, those numbers are about 51 and 43. Reading and writing scores have held steady since 2023, while math scores are up about 15 points.
PSSA + Keystone results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 56.2% | 76.1% |
| 2023-24 | 57.1% | 61.2% |
% 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
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
54.3%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
65.8%
based on PA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-11.5pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 54% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 66% 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 Southern Columbia High School
Southern Columbia High School's state test result (54.3% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southern Columbia High School this school | 348 | 27.6% | 54.3% |
| Carbon Career & Technical Institute Jim Thorpe | 375 | 28.3% | 48.7% |
| Fairfield Area High School Fairfield | 277 | 24.9% | 43.9% |
| Wilmington Area JSHS New Wilmington | 444 | 25.7% | 49.0% |
| South Side High School Hookstown | 272 | 27.9% | 65.2% |
| Palisades High School Kintnersville | 465 | 30.5% | 59.2% |
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 Southern Columbia High School ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Pennsylvania | In Columbia County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 54.3% | #241 of 576 | #4 of 7 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 76.1% | #22 of 626 ▲ 63 | #1 of 7 ▲ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 56.2% | #347 of 626 ▲ 14 | #5 of 7 ▲ 1 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 348 | #522 of 713 | #5 of 7 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 12.3:1 | #156 of 601 | #3 of 7 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 13.1% | #471 of 604 | #5 of 7 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 27.6% | #553 of 619 | #7 of 7 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -16.5% | #80 of 373 | N/A |
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
348
-39 (-10%) vs 2020
-41% since 1990-91, when it was 592
Student : Teacher
12.3:1
was 13.8:1
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 | 348 | 28.3 | 12.3:1 | 28% (96) |
| 2023-24 | 364 | 27.4 | 13.3:1 | 26% (96) |
| 2022-23 | 378 | 27.3 | 13.9:1 | 15% (55) |
| 2020-21 | 387 | 28 | 13.8:1 | 19% (74) |
| 2017-18 | 417 | 28.8 | 14.5:1 | 21% (87) |
| 2015-16 | 409 | 28 | 14.6:1 | 18% (74) |
| 2010-11 | 415 | 34 | 12.2:1 | 23% (97) |
| 2000-01 | 474 | 27 | 17.6:1 | 18% (83) |
| 1990-91 | 592 | 39 | 15.2:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Southern Columbia High School.
Since 2017-18: students down 17% (417 to 348); teachers down 2% (28.8 to 28.3).
About Southern Columbia High School
Southern Columbia High School is a public small high school in Catawissa, Pennsylvania. Classes run from 9 through 12, and the school has 348 students. The average for high schools in Pennsylvania is about 738 students, so this school is 53% smaller than average.
In Southern Columbia Area SD, 3 schools enroll a combined 1,195 students.
The large majority of students at Southern Columbia High School, 93%, are White. Beyond that, enrollment is 3% Hispanic and 3% multiracial. That is close to the 91% White share among all Columbia County residents. By the diversity index, Southern Columbia High School comes in at 13%.
The school has about 12.3 students per teacher and 28.3 full-time-equivalent teachers. High schools in Pennsylvania have a similar average ratio of 12.8:1. About 28% of enrolled students meet the income rules for free or reduced-price lunch. That is 28 points below the 56% average for public schools in Columbia County.
Measured against Pennsylvania public high schools, Southern Columbia High School receives a C+. The grade weighs proficiency most heavily, then how results compare with what the school's low-income share predicts, then the three-year change.
Test results at Southern Columbia High School are 11.5 points below what its free or reduced-price lunch share predicts (54.3% actual, 65.8% predicted).
Census Bureau estimates for Columbia County show that median household income is about $64,644, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 27%, and about 8% of people live in poverty. A total of 20 public schools operate in Columbia County, serving about 7,501 students.
Southern Columbia Middle School is the closest public school, less than a tenth of a mile away in a straight line. Southern Columbia High School is one of several public schools in the area, with 2 others within five miles. Southern Columbia High School comes in 5th of 6 nearby schools on average proficiency.
The school is in rural territory some distance from an urban area, according to its NCES locale (Rural: Distant).
From 2020-21 to 2024-25, Southern Columbia High School went from 387 students to 348. The ratio of students to teachers went from 13.8:1 to 12.3:1 over the same years.
Conversations here can range across science fairs, picture day, and bus routes. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.
Columbia County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
65,362
Census ACS
Median income
$64,644
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
27%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
8%
Below federal line
Schools in county
20
7,501 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Southern Columbia Area SD
- Hartman El CenterElementary · 480 students
- Southern Columbia Middle SchoolMiddle · 367 students
Other schools in Catawissa
- Hartman El CenterElementary · 480 students
- Southern Columbia Middle SchoolMiddle · 367 students
Nearby schools
- Southern Columbia Middle School0.0 mi · 367
- Hartman El Center0.1 mi · 480
- Danville Center Adolescent Female6.1 mi · 45
- North Central Secure Trmnt Unt6.1 mi · 43
- W W Evans Memorial Elementary School6.1 mi · 250
- Bloomsburg Area High School6.3 mi · 362
Frequently asked questions
About Southern Columbia High SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Southern Columbia High School?
Southern Columbia High School enrolls approximately 348 students in grades 09-12.
What age range does Southern Columbia High School serve?
Southern Columbia High School serves students from grade 09 through grade 12.
How many students per teacher at Southern Columbia High School?
Approximately 12.3:1 students per teacher at Southern Columbia High School.
How diverse is Southern Columbia High School?
Southern Columbia High School reports a student body of 93% White, 3% Hispanic, 0% Black, 1% Asian, 3% Two or more.
Who oversees Southern Columbia High School?
Southern Columbia High School is overseen by Southern Columbia Area SD in Columbia County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.