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Which teacher or staff member at Southmoreland SHS deserves more recognition?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
566
High
DISTRICT 450 · STATE 738
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·SOUTHMORELAND SD·NCES 422241006191
Southmoreland SHS
2351 Route 981, Alverton, PA 15612 · (724) 887-2010 · Westmoreland County
GRADES 09–12HIGH41-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL566 STUDENTS
C-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 18% of Pennsylvania public high schools
- CTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- DBeats 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
15.1:1
38 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.7:1 · STATE 12.8:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
53%
300 students
DISTRICT 61% · 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 | 140 | 25% |
| Grade 10 | 138 | 24% |
| Grade 11 | 147 | 26% |
| Grade 12 | 141 | 25% |
Student demographics
12%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 13% · 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 Southmoreland SD. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
PSSA + Keystone 2024-25 . % Proficient or AdvancedEnglish Language Arts
49.3%
PA avg 51.1% . -4.4pp since 2023
Math
38.7%
PA avg 43.0% . +19.2pp since 2023
What this means: On the PSSA + Keystone, Pennsylvania's statewide test, about 49 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 39 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 are up about 19 points.
PSSA + Keystone results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 49.3% | 38.7% |
| 2023-24 | 53.7% | 19.5% |
% 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
39.7%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
54.9%
based on PA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-15.2pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 40% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 55% 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 Southmoreland SHS
Southmoreland SHS's state test result (39.7% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southmoreland SHS this school | 566 | 53.0% | 39.7% |
| North Penn-Mansfield JSHS Mansfield | 544 | 52.4% | 37.3% |
| Marion Center Area JR/SR High School Marion Center | 550 | 52.2% | 46.0% |
| Southern Huntingdon Co HS/MS Three Springs | 595 | 53.3% | 35.5% |
| Greenville JSHS Greenville | 610 | 54.1% | 45.7% |
| Cranberry Area JSHS Seneca | 563 | 50.3% | 42.4% |
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 Southmoreland SHS ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Pennsylvania | In Westmoreland County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 39.7% | #438 of 576 | #13 of 18 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 38.7% | #318 of 626 ▲ 180 | #9 of 18 ▲ 4 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 49.3% | #425 of 626 ▼ 7 | #14 of 18 ▼ 1 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 566 | #362 of 713 | #14 of 22 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 15.1:1 | #418 of 601 | #9 of 16 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 11.8% | #486 of 604 | #15 of 17 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 53.0% | #320 of 619 | #8 of 19 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +5.6% | #135 of 221 | 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
566
+12 (+2%) vs 2020
-30% since 1990-91, when it was 808
Student : Teacher
15.1:1
was 15.0:1
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 | 566 | 37.5 | 15.1:1 | 53% (300) |
| 2023-24 | 555 | 38.5 | 14.4:1 | 54% (300) |
| 2022-23 | 584 | 38.3 | 15.2:1 | 42% (244) |
| 2020-21 | 554 | 37 | 15.0:1 | 40% (220) |
| 2017-18 | 536 | 40 | 13.4:1 | 43% (233) |
| 2015-16 | 568 | 40 | 14.2:1 | 46% (259) |
| 2010-11 | 637 | 47 | 13.6:1 | 37% (236) |
| 2000-01 | 748 | 47 | 15.9:1 | 26% (197) |
| 1990-91 | 808 | 48 | 16.8:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Southmoreland SHS.
Since 2017-18: students up 6% (536 to 566); teachers down 6% (40 to 37.5).
About Southmoreland SHS
Southmoreland SHS is a small high school in Southmoreland SD, located in Alverton, Pennsylvania. Total enrollment is 566 students, and the grades served are 9 through 12. By comparison, high schools in Pennsylvania enroll about 738 students on average.
Southmoreland SD runs Southmoreland SHS along with 3 other schools, enrolling 1,801 students in total.
At Southmoreland SHS, 94% of students are White. It is also 4% multiracial. Census estimates put Westmoreland County at about 92% White, close to the school's figure. The diversity index for Southmoreland SHS is 12%. For US public schools as a whole it is 70%.
Southmoreland SHS has a student-to-teacher ratio of 15.1:1, with 37.5 full-time-equivalent teachers. Compared with the 12.8:1 average for high schools in Pennsylvania, this school's ratio is higher. The school has 53% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. The figure for public schools in Westmoreland County is close, at 53%.
Southmoreland 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 18% of Pennsylvania public high schools.
Southmoreland SHS's actual average proficiency rate across its state test results (39.7%) and its predicted rate (54.9%) put it outside the top and bottom 10% of Pennsylvania schools.
For the population of Westmoreland County, median household income comes to about $74,109, roughly 33% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and about 7% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Westmoreland County's 85 public schools enroll about 41,302 students and include Southmoreland SHS.
The closest school to Southmoreland SHS is Southmoreland Primary Center, located about 0.2 miles away. In all, 7 other public schools sit within five miles of Southmoreland SHS. In a group of 8 nearby schools with scores, Southmoreland SHS ranks 8th on average proficiency.
The school is in rural territory close to an urban area, according to its NCES locale (Rural: Fringe).
Enrollment was essentially flat over 4 years: 554 in 2020-21, 566 in 2024-25.
People can post here about homework, tutoring, and testing dates and other school topics. Members of the school community can share what they know.
Westmoreland County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
352,500
Census ACS
Median income
$74,109
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
33%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
85
41,302 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Southmoreland SD
- Southmoreland Elementary SchoolElementary · 548 students
- Southmoreland Middle SchoolMiddle · 410 students
- Southmoreland Primary CenterElementary · 277 students
Nearby schools
- Southmoreland Primary Center0.2 mi · 277
- Southmoreland Middle School2.1 mi · 410
- Southmoreland Elementary School2.1 mi · 548
- Ramsay Elementary School2.4 mi · 396
- Mount Pleasant Area Junior High School4.2 mi · 290
- Mount Pleasant Area High School4.2 mi · 597
Frequently asked questions
About Southmoreland SHSHow many students attend Southmoreland SHS?
Southmoreland SHS enrolls approximately 566 students in grades 09-12.
Is Southmoreland SHS an elementary, middle, or high school?
Southmoreland SHS is a high school covering grades 09-12.
How many students per teacher at Southmoreland SHS?
Approximately 15.1:1 students per teacher at Southmoreland SHS.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Southmoreland SHS?
At Southmoreland SHS, the student body is approximately 94% White, 1% Hispanic, 1% Black, 0% Asian, 4% Two or more.
Who oversees Southmoreland SHS?
Southmoreland SHS is overseen by Southmoreland SD in Westmoreland County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.