Connellsville, Pennsylvania

In April 2015, the Pennsylvania Department of Education released a report identifying that five Connellsville Area School District schools were among the lowest-achieving schools for reading and mathematics in the state.[8] They were: Clifford N. Pritts Elementary School, Dunbar Boro Elementary School, Dunbar Township Elementary School, West Crawford Elementary School and Zachariah Connell Elementary School.[9] In 2012, 2013 and 2014, only Zachariah Connell Elementary School was on the state's lowest achievement list. In 2011, five district schools were on the bottom 15% achievement list: Zachariah Connell Elementary School, Springfield Elementary School, Dunbar Township Elementary School, Connellsville Township Elementary School, and Connellsville Junior High School West.[10]

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.[11] 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.[12]

Connellsville Area Senior High School students and adults can attend the publicly funded Connellsville Career & Technical Center which is located in the community. CACTC provides students training in the: construction and mechanical trades, automobile repairs, culinary arts, health aids, computer technical careers and other fields. Enrollment was 279 pupils in 2015.[13] Connellsville Career & Technical Center achieved a School Performance Profile of 55.7 out of 100 in 2015. The Profile reflects percentage of students on grade level in reading, mathematics and science; Industry Standards-Based Competency Assessments – NOCTI; as well as, its annual graduation rate of just 67.2%.[14]

Alternatively, Connellsvile residents may apply to attend any of the Commonwealth's 14 public cyber charter schools (in 2013) at no additional cost to the parents. The resident's public school district is required to pay the charter school and cyber charter school tuition for residents who attend these public schools.[15][16] By Commonwealth law, if the District provides transportation for its own students, then the District must provide transportation to any school that lies within 10 miles of its borders. Residents may also seek admission for their school-aged child to any other public school district. When accepted for admission, the student's parents are responsible for paying an annual tuition fee set by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. In 2012, the tuition fees for West Perry School District were: Elementary School – $7,477.04, High School – $10,138.63.[17]

Intermediate Unit No. 1 provides a wide variety of services to children living in its region which includes Connellsville. Early screening, special educations services, speech and hearing therapy and many other services like driver education are available. Services for children during the preschool years are provided without cost to their families, after the child is determined to meet eligibility requirements.

Conn-Area Catholic School[18] also operates in the borough at 613 East Crawford Avenue. The School provides kindergarten through sixth grade at an annual tuition fee. The School's Principal is Mrs Cecilia Solan. The school offers a strong STEM (Science, Technology, Mathematics, Engineering) focus. There are also several sports programs including: basketball, volleyball, soccer, and cheerleading. By state law, the local public schools, within 10 miles of C-ACS must provide free bus service to and from the school.

Geibel Catholic Junior-Senior High School has also been serving the Connellsville community since January 6, 1964. In the fall 2014, Geibel Catholic was again honored as a "School of Excellence" by the Cardinal Newman Society.[19]

Community members have access to the eleven public libraries of Fayette County and to the statewide Pennsylvania Power Library[20] which is an online library funded with tax dollars through the state's annual education budget.

Connellsville has the distinction of having been served at one time by five railroads: the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, the Pennsylvania Railroad, the Western Maryland Railroad, the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad, and the Norfolk and Western Railroad.

The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (now CSX Transportation) entered Connellsville on the right (east) side of the Youghiogheny River. This main line originated in Baltimore, passed through Cumberland, Maryland heading west followed the river to Pittsburgh, then continuing on to Chicago. In 1934, the B&O switched its passenger trains to the tracks of the P&LE and used the P&LE station.[22]

The Pennsylvania Railroad's Southwest branch from Greensburg entered Connellsville from Connellsville Township, crossing Route 119 and the North End, then crossing the Youghiogheny on a trestle in the middle of the town; this line terminated in Uniontown, Pennsylvania. The line has been abandoned, and the trestle was demolished in the late 1980s. It remains as a coal loading facility behind the location of the former Back Creek Lumber Co where the line was severed. This line is now operated by the Southwest Pennsylvania Railroad.

The Western Maryland Railroad's line crossed the Alleghenies from Cumberland and entered Connellsville on the right side of the Youghiogheny River, connecting with two separate railroad companies. The first connection was with the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad's line from Pittsburgh which continued down the right side of the river to Pittsburgh. This was in direct competition with the B & O directly across the river. The second connection of the Western Maryland was to the Norfolk and Western Railroad which crossed the river to the left side on the former Pittsburgh & West Virginia railroad bridge.

The Norfolk & Western branch was acquired by the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railroad, which built a new connection on the left side of the river to CSX, which severed the old line across the bridge. This historic bridge is now threatened with demolition. Several of these former railway lines have been abandoned and the right of way acquired for other uses. The former Western Maryland Railroad and Pittsburgh & Lake Erie lines are now the part of the Youghiogheny River Trail.

Amtrak's Capitol Limited provides passenger rail service to Connellsville, with service to Chicago, Pittsburgh, Washington, DC, and other points in between.

Historically, the mining and steel working Connellsville-Greensburg-Scottdale-Jeannette-Mt Pleasant-Irwin-Latrobe area was served by a 339-mile interurban trolley system, the wide track gauge West Penn Railways. It operated until 1952. Before the better economy of the area plus improved roads allowed more ownership and use of automobiles, the run every hour 5 cents a ride bright orange West Penn trolleys provided reliable local transportation.[23]

The Fayette Area Coordinated Transportation transit center hub is located at the Connellsville Airport in Lemont Furnace, about halfway between Fayette's two largest urban centers, Connellsville and Uniontown.

The main route through Connellsville is U.S. Route 119, which links Connellsville with nearby cities Uniontown and Greensburg, and provides access to many of the business on the outskirts of the city. Pennsylvania Route 201 ends in Connellsville, and PA 711 serves as the main street through downtown before heading into the local mountains.