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Which teacher or staff member at Valley JSHS deserves more recognition?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
905
High
DISTRICT 488 · STATE 738
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·NEW KENSINGTON-ARNOLD SD·NCES 421674007544
Valley JSHS
703 Stevenson Blvd, New Kensington, PA 15068 · (724) 337-4536 · Westmoreland County
GRADES 07–12HIGH21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL905 STUDENTS
D
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 8% 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.
- 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
15.3:1
59 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 12.6:1 · STATE 12.8:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
98%
885 students
DISTRICT 104% · 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 7 | 149 | 16% |
| Grade 8 | 135 | 15% |
| Grade 9 | 160 | 18% |
| Grade 10 | 142 | 16% |
| Grade 11 | 146 | 16% |
| Grade 12 | 173 | 19% |
Student demographics
66%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 68% · 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 New Kensington-Arnold SD. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
PSSA + Keystone 2024-25 . % Proficient or AdvancedEnglish Language Arts
20.5%
PA avg 51.1% . -11.0pp since 2023
Math
5.4%
PA avg 43.0% . +0.7pp since 2023
What this means: On the PSSA + Keystone, Pennsylvania's statewide test, about 21 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 5 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 11 points since 2023, while math scores have held steady.
PSSA + Keystone results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 20.5% | 5.4% |
| 2023-24 | 31.5% | 4.7% |
% 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
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of PA schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
17.7%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
35.7%
based on PA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-18.0pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 18% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 36% typical for Pennsylvania schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
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 Valley JSHS
Valley JSHS's state test result (17.7% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Valley JSHS this school | 905 | 97.8% | 17.7% |
| Greater Johnstown SHS Johnstown | 917 | 93.3% | 14.8% |
| West Mifflin Area High School West Mifflin | 964 | 98.1% | 27.3% |
| New Castle SHS New Castle | 740 | 98.9% | 35.8% |
| Pittsburgh CAPA 6-12 Pittsburgh | 840 | 98.3% | 71.5% |
| Pittsburgh Science and Technology Academy 6-12 Pittsburgh | 618 | 98.7% | 60.9% |
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 Valley JSHS ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Pennsylvania | In Westmoreland County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 17.7% | #535 of 576 | #17 of 18 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 5.4% | #586 of 626 ▼ 1 | #16 of 18 no change |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 20.5% | #596 of 626 ▼ 31 | #17 of 18 no change |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 905 | #208 of 713 | #7 of 22 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 15.3:1 | #435 of 601 | #10 of 16 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 66.3% | #44 of 604 | #1 of 17 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 97.8% | #192 of 619 | #4 of 19 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +18.5% | #35 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
905
+53 (+6%) vs 2020
Student : Teacher
15.3:1
was 14.2:1
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 | 905 | 59 | 15.3:1 | 98% (885) |
| 2023-24 | 885 | 59 | 15.0:1 | 100% (885) |
| 2022-23 | 869 | 58 | 15.0:1 | 90% (782) |
| 2020-21 | 852 | 60 | 14.2:1 | 91% (779) |
| 2017-18 | 764 | 63 | 12.1:1 | 91% (697) |
| 2015-16 | 810 | 59 | 13.7:1 | 100% (807) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Valley JSHS.
Since 2017-18: students up 18% (764 to 905); teachers down 6% (63 to 59).
About Valley JSHS
Valley JSHS is one of the public schools in New Kensington, Pennsylvania. It is a mid-sized high school. The school enrolls 905 students in grades 7 through 12. Across high schools in Pennsylvania, the average enrollment is about 738.
Valley JSHS is part of a district of 4 schools: New Kensington-Arnold SD, with 1,950 students.
White students make up 43% of enrollment at Valley JSHS, the largest share of any group. The remaining shares are 34% Black, 19% multiracial, and 4% Hispanic. Census estimates put the White share of Westmoreland County's population at about 92%. On a 0 to 100 scale, the school's diversity index is 66, compared with 70 nationally.
Valley JSHS reported 59 full-time-equivalent teachers in 2024-25, a ratio of 15.3:1. High schools in Pennsylvania have an average ratio of 12.8:1. Roughly 98% of students at Valley JSHS can receive free or reduced-price lunch. The rate at public schools in Westmoreland County averages 53%, lower than here.
Valley JSHS holds a D allk12 Grade, placing it above 8% of Pennsylvania public high schools.
Predicted from its free or reduced-price lunch share, Valley JSHS would score about 35.7%. It scores 17.7%, a bottom-10% result among Pennsylvania schools on BeatsExpectations.
In Westmoreland County, where the school is located, the median household earns about $74,109 a year, 33% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 7% of people live in poverty. Counting Valley JSHS, Westmoreland County has 85 public schools.
Measured in a straight line, Northern Westmoreland Career & Technology Center is less than a tenth of a mile from Valley JSHS. Around the school, at least 8 other public schools are within five miles. In a group of 6 nearby schools with scores, Valley JSHS ranks 6th on average proficiency.
The school's locale code, Suburb: Large, means it is in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
Enrollment increased by 6% across 4 years, from 852 in 2020-21 to 905 in 2024-25. The ratio of students to teachers went from 14.2:1 to 15.3:1 over the same years.
The Valley JSHS discussion page is a place for special education services, counseling, and support programs. Teachers and staff are welcome to share updates too.
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 New Kensington-Arnold SD
- Roy A. Hunt Elementary SchoolElementary · 609 students
- Berkey SchoolElementary · 289 students
- Martin SchoolElementary · 147 students
Other schools in New Kensington
- Martin SchoolElementary · 147 students
- Northern Westmoreland Career & Technology CenterHigh · 7 students
Nearby schools
- Northern Westmoreland Career & Technology Center0.1 mi · 7
- Martin School0.7 mi · 147
- Roy A. Hunt Elementary School0.7 mi · 609
- Berkey School0.8 mi · 289
- Springdale JSHS1.9 mi · 421
- Stewart Elementary School2.2 mi · 259
Frequently asked questions
About Valley JSHSHow large is Valley JSHS?
Valley JSHS enrolls approximately 905 students in grades 07-12.
What age range does Valley JSHS serve?
Valley JSHS serves students from grade 07 through grade 12.
How many teachers does Valley JSHS have?
Valley JSHS employs 59 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 15.3:1.
What is the student diversity at Valley JSHS?
Student demographics at Valley JSHS are roughly 43% White, 4% Hispanic, 34% Black, 0% Asian, 19% Two or more.
What district is Valley JSHS in?
Valley JSHS is part of New Kensington-Arnold SD.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.