Jackson Township, Perry County, Pennsylvania

The Israel and Samuel Lupfer Tannery Site and House, Book's Covered Bridge, Mount Pleasant Covered Bridge, and New Germantown Covered Bridge are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[4]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 37.3 square miles (97 km²), all of it land.

As of the census[6] of 2000, there were 525 people, 182 households, and 143 families living in the township. The population density was 14.1 people per square mile (5.4/km²). There were 264 housing units at an average density of 7.1/sq mi (2.7/km²). The racial makeup of the township was 99.05% White, 0.19% African American, 0.19% from other races, and 0.57% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.38% of the population.

There were 182 households, out of which 32.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 67.6% were married couples living together, 6.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.4% were non-families. 20.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.88 and the average family size was 3.34.

In the township the population was spread out, with 30.5% under the age of 18, 10.3% from 18 to 24, 25.0% from 25 to 44, 18.3% from 45 to 64, and 16.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 111.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.7 males.

The median income for a household in the township was $37,054, and the median income for a family was $39,821. Males had a median income of $30,000 versus $17,679 for females. The per capita income for the township was $16,005. About 11.6% of families and 18.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 29.7% of those under age 18 and 8.5% of those age 65 or over.

Map of Perry County, Pennsylvania School Districts

Residents of Jackson Township may attend the local, public schools operated by West Perry School District which provides full day kindergarten through 12th grade. In 2016, the District's enrollment declined to 2,482 students.[7] In 2016, West Perry School District ranked 331st out of 493 public school districts for academic achievement of its pupils, by the Pittsburgh Business Times.[8] The 2016 graduation rate was just 86%.[9]

High School students and adults can attend the publicly funded Cumberland Perry Area Vocational Technical School which is located in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. CPAVTA provides students training in the: construction and mechanical trades, culinary arts, health aids, computer technical careers and other fields. Students may also choose to attend Capital Area Online Learning Association (CAOLA) online education programs. The service is operated by the Capital Area Intermediate Unit 15.

Jackson Township residents may also apply to attend any of the Commonwealth's 13 public cyber charter schools (in 2015) 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.[10][11] 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 2015, the tuition fees for West Perry School District were: elementary school - $7,145.66, high school - $9,606.12.[12]

Capital Area Intermediate Unit #15 provides a wide variety of services to children living in its region which includes Jackson Township. Early screening, special education 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 when the child is determined to meet eligibility requirements.

Libraries

Community members have access to the Community Library of West Perry County in Blain; the Bloomfield Public Library which is located in New Bloomfield and to the statewide PA Power Library which is an online library funded with tax dollars through the state's annual education budget.

School aged residents may also attend the Capital Area School for the Arts which is an arts charter school located in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Armstrong Valley Christian School is one of several private schools that are also available to the Township's residents.

Community college

Jackson Township residents have access to Harrisburg Area Community College at a reduced cost for tuition. People residing in the community fund HACC through an annual payment made by West Perry School District.[13] Twenty two local public school districts are required to contribute annually to HACC, regardless of whether any residents are attending the college. Full-time students from these districts, who attend HACC, pay $1,674 for 12 credit hours.