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What's the most underrated thing about Southern Lehigh SHS that outsiders don't know?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
1,013
High
DISTRICT 611 · STATE 738
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·SOUTHERN LEHIGH SD·NCES 422235002839
Southern Lehigh SHS
5800 Main St, Center Valley, PA 18034 · (610) 282-1421 · Lehigh County
GRADES 09–12HIGH21-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL1,013 STUDENTS
A-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 81% of Pennsylvania public high schools
- ATest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- BBeats 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
15.3:1
66 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.9:1 · STATE 12.8:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
21%
210 students
DISTRICT 17% · 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 | 247 | 24% |
| Grade 10 | 242 | 24% |
| Grade 11 | 282 | 28% |
| Grade 12 | 242 | 24% |
Student demographics
33%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 36% · 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 Lehigh SD. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
PSSA + Keystone 2024-25 . % Proficient or AdvancedEnglish Language Arts
79.5%
PA avg 51.1% . -3.5pp since 2023
Math
59.9%
PA avg 43.0% . +0.3pp since 2023
What this means: On the PSSA + Keystone, Pennsylvania's statewide test, about 80 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 60 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 4 points since 2023, while math scores have held steady.
PSSA + Keystone results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 79.5% | 59.9% |
| 2023-24 | 83.0% | 59.6% |
% 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
69.4%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
68.7%
based on PA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+0.7pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 69% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 69% 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 Lehigh SHS
Southern Lehigh SHS's state test result (69.4% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southern Lehigh SHS this school | 1,013 | 20.7% | 69.4% |
| Franklin Regional SHS Murrysville | 1,101 | 22.6% | 69.8% |
| Penncrest High School Media | 1,255 | 20.7% | 77.1% |
| Fox Chapel Area High School Pittsburgh | 1,360 | 22.6% | 89.8% |
| Thomas Jefferson High School Jefferson Hills | 1,041 | 23.9% | 77.1% |
| Central Bucks HS-West Doylestown | 1,391 | 16.8% | 73.3% |
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 Lehigh SHS ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Pennsylvania | In Lehigh County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 69.4% | #72 of 576 | #1 of 11 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 59.9% | #109 of 626 ▼ 12 | #3 of 11 ▼ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 79.5% | #73 of 626 ▼ 15 | #2 of 11 ▼ 1 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 1,013 | #173 of 713 | #6 of 12 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 15.3:1 | #436 of 601 | #4 of 11 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 33.4% | #274 of 604 | #8 of 11 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 20.7% | #588 of 619 | #11 of 11 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -6.2% | #255 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
1,013
-69 (-6%) vs 2020
+41% since 1990-91, when it was 717
Student : Teacher
15.3:1
was 17.7:1
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 | 1,013 | 66 | 15.3:1 | 21% (210) |
| 2023-24 | 1,014 | 62 | 16.4:1 | 21% (210) |
| 2022-23 | 1,056 | 59 | 17.9:1 | 13% (133) |
| 2020-21 | 1,082 | 61 | 17.7:1 | 14% (147) |
| 2017-18 | 1,080 | 63.9 | 16.9:1 | 11% (115) |
| 2015-16 | 1,066 | 62 | 17.2:1 | 11% (118) |
| 2010-11 | 1,028 | 60 | 17.1:1 | 8% (81) |
| 2000-01 | 886 | 53 | 16.7:1 | 2% (21) |
| 1990-91 | 717 | 53 | 13.5:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Southern Lehigh SHS.
Since 2017-18: students down 6% (1,080 to 1,013); teachers up 3% (63.9 to 66).
About Southern Lehigh SHS
Southern Lehigh SHS is classified as a high school. It is located in Center Valley, Pennsylvania. Grades offered run from 9 through 12, with 1,013 students enrolled. The average among high schools in Pennsylvania is roughly 738 students; this school is 37% bigger than that.
Within Southern Lehigh SD, Southern Lehigh SHS is one of 5 schools. The district enrolls 3,057 students.
White students are the large majority at Southern Lehigh SHS, with 81% of enrollment. Next come 8% Asian, 7% Hispanic, and 2% Black. That compares with about 62% White among all Lehigh County residents. The chance that two students picked at random at Southern Lehigh SHS belong to different racial or ethnic groups, known as the diversity index, is 33%.
Southern Lehigh SHS employs 66 full-time-equivalent teachers. That gives a ratio of about 15.3:1. The average ratio among high schools in Pennsylvania is 12.8:1, lower than at this school. Southern Lehigh SHS's free or reduced-price lunch eligibility rate is 21%. The 70% average for public schools in Lehigh County is 49 points higher.
Southern Lehigh SHS is graded A- by allk12, scoring above 81% of Pennsylvania public high schools once test results, poverty-adjusted performance, and the recent trend are combined.
After adjusting for student poverty, Southern Lehigh SHS lands between the top and bottom 10% of Pennsylvania schools. Its average proficiency rate on state tests is 69.4%; the prediction is 68.7%.
Southern Lehigh SHS is located in Lehigh County, where median household income is about $80,079, about 34% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and roughly 8% of residents are in poverty. Southern Lehigh SHS is one of 83 public schools in Lehigh County, which together enroll about 56,984 students.
Southern Lehigh Middle School is the public school closest to Southern Lehigh SHS, about 0.2 miles away. Southern Lehigh SHS has at least 8 other public schools within five miles. Local comparison: Southern Lehigh SHS ranks 4th of 9 nearby schools, at 69.4% versus a 56.7% average.
The school's setting, by NCES definition, is Suburb: Large: in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
Federal counts put enrollment at 1,082 in 2020-21 and 1,013 in 2024-25, a 6% decrease. Over the same period, the student-to-teacher ratio fell to 15.3:1, from 17.7:1.
Parents and students can post about enrollment questions, class placement, and PTA news at Southern Lehigh SHS. Questions from prospective families are welcome too.
Lehigh County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
378,792
Census ACS
Median income
$80,079
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
34%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
8%
Below federal line
Schools in county
83
56,984 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Southern Lehigh SD
- Southern Lehigh Intermediate SchoolMiddle · 702 students
- Southern Lehigh Middle SchoolMiddle · 471 students
- Liberty Bell Elementary SchoolElementary · 445 students
- Hopewell Elementary SchoolElementary · 426 students
Other schools in Center Valley
- Southern Lehigh Middle SchoolMiddle · 471 students
- Hopewell Elementary SchoolElementary · 426 students
Nearby schools
- Southern Lehigh Middle School0.2 mi · 471
- Southern Lehigh Intermediate School0.5 mi · 702
- Hopewell Elementary School1.4 mi · 426
- Liberty Bell Elementary School1.4 mi · 445
- Arts Academy CS4.0 mi · 296
- Salisbury Elementary School4.1 mi · 461
Frequently asked questions
About Southern Lehigh SHSHow many students attend Southern Lehigh SHS?
Southern Lehigh SHS enrolls approximately 1,013 students in grades 09-12.
What grades does Southern Lehigh SHS serve?
Southern Lehigh SHS serves grades 09-12.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Southern Lehigh SHS?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Southern Lehigh SHS is approximately 15.3:1 (66 FTE teachers).
How diverse is Southern Lehigh SHS?
Southern Lehigh SHS reports a student body of 81% White, 7% Hispanic, 2% Black, 8% Asian, 2% Two or more.
Is Southern Lehigh SHS public or private?
Southern Lehigh SHS is a public K-12 school, overseen by Southern Lehigh SD.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.