Academic Achievement
In July 2012, the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) released a report identifying a Philipsburg-Osceola Area School District elementary school as among the lowest achieving schools for reading and mathematics in 2011. Osceola Mills Elementary School is one of the 15% lowest achieving schools in the Commonwealth. Parents and students may be eligible for scholarships to transfer to another public or nonpublic school through the state's Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit Program passed in June 2012. The scholarships are limited to those students whose family's income is less than $60,000 annually, with another $12,000 allowed per dependent. Maximum scholarship award is $8,500, with special education students receiving up to $15,000 for a year's tuition. Parents pay any difference between the scholarship amount and the receiving school's tuition rate. Students may seek admission to neighboring public school districts. Each year the PDE publishes the tuition rate for each individual public school district. Three public schools in Clearfield County are among the lowest achieving Pennsylvania public schools in 2011 (also an elementary school in Dubois Area School District and an elementary school in the West Branch Area School District). According to the report, parents in 414 public schools (74 school districts) were offered access to these scholarships. For the 2012-13 school year, seven public school districts in Pennsylvania had all of their schools placed on the list including: Sto-Rox School District, Chester Upland School District, Clairton City School District, Duquesne City School District, Farrell Area School District, Wilkinsburg Borough School District and Steelton-Highspire School District. Funding for the scholarships comes from donations by businesses which receive a state tax credit for donating.
- Statewide ranking
Philipsburg-Osceola Area School District was ranked 404th out of the 498 ranked Pennsylvania school districts in 2012, by the Pittsburgh Business Times. The ranking was based on student academic achievement as demonstrated by the last 3 years of PSSA results in: reading, writing, math, and science. The PSSAs are given to all children in grades 3rd through 8th and the 11th grade in high school. Adapted examinations are given to children in the special education programs.
- 2012 - 404th
- 2011 - 364th
- 2010 - 370th
- 2009 - 302nd
- 2008 - 317th out of 501 school districts
- 2007 - 286th
In 2009, the academic achievement of the students in the Philipsburg-Oseola Area School District was in the 13th percentile among Pennsylvania's 500 public school districts. Scale (0-99; 100 is state best)
Read more about this topic: Philipsburg-Osceola School District
Famous quotes containing the words academic and/or achievement:
“You know lots of criticism is written by characters who are very academic and think it is a sign you are worthless if you make jokes or kid or even clown. I wouldn’t kid Our Lord if he was on the cross. But I would attempt a joke with him if I ran into him chasing the money changers out of the temple.”
—Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961)
“... very little achievement is required in order to pity another man’s shortcomings.”
—George Eliot [Mary Ann (or Marian)