Panther Valley High School

In July 2012, the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) released a report identifying 2 Panther Valley School District schools as among the lowest achieving schools for reading and mathematics in 2011. Both Panther Valley Middle School and Panther Valley High School are among 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.[5] 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.[6] Fifty three public schools in Allegheny County are among the lowest achieving schools in 2011. According to the report, parents in 414 public schools (74 school districts) were offered access to these scholarships. For the 2012-13 school year, eight 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, William Penn School District and Steelton-Highspire School District.[7] Funding for the scholarships comes from donations by businesses which receive a state tax credit for donating.

In 2011, the graduation rate at Panther Valley School District was 85%.[8] In 2010, the Pennsylvania Department of Education issued a new, 4 year cohort graduation rate. Panther Valley Senior High School's rate was 75.97% for 2010.[9]

According to traditional graduation rate calculations

• 2010 - 97% [10]
• 2009 - 97% [11]
• 2008 - 91% [12]
• 2007 - 91% [13]

In 2011, Panther Valley High School declined to Corrective Action II 1st Year status due to achieving just 1 of 6 academic metrics under the No Child Left Behind Act. Academic achievement remains below state standards in both reading and mathematics.[14] Under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, the school administration was required to notify parents of the school's poor achievement outcomes and to offer the opportunity to transfer to a successful school within the district. The district operates a single high school. Additionally, the school administration was required by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, to develop a School Improvement Plan to address the school's low student achievement. Under the Pennsylvania Accountability System, the school must pay for additional tutoring for struggling students.[15]

• 2010 - Making Progress: in Corrective Action I status.[16]
• 2009 - declined to Corrective Action I status under No Child Left Behind.[17]
• 2008 - School Improvement II status

11th Grade Reading

• 2011 - 60% on grade level, (28% below basic). State - 69.1% of 11th graders are on grade level.[18]
• 2010 - 64% (17% below basic). State - 66% [19]
• 2009 - 53% (25% below basic). State - 65% [20]
• 2008 - 46% (31% below basic). State - 65% [21]
• 2007 - 43% (32% below basic). State - 65% [22]

11th Grade Math:

• 2011 - 47% on grade level (37% below basic). In Pennsylvania, 60.3% of 11th graders are on grade level.[23]
• 2010 - 51% (37% below basic). State - 59% [24]
• 2009 - 39% (33% below basic). State - 56%.[25]
• 2008 - 30% (45% below basic). State - 56% [26]
• 2007 - 26% (56% below basic). State - 53% [27]

11th Grade Science:

• 2011 - 19% on grade level (29% below basic). State - 40% of 11th graders were on grade level.[28]
• 2010 - 25% (18% below basic). State - 39%
• 2009 - 19% (17% below basic). State - 40% [29]
• 2008 - 14% (26% below basic). State - 39% [30]

According to a Pennsylvania Department of Education study released in January 2009, 36% of the Panther Valley High School graduates required remediation in mathematics and or reading before they were prepared to take college level courses in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education or community colleges.[31] Less than 66% of Pennsylvania high school graduates, who enroll in a four-year college in Pennsylvania, will earn a bachelor's degree within six years. Among Pennsylvania high school graduates pursuing an associate degree, only one in three graduate in three years.[32] Per the Pennsylvania Department of Education, one in three recent high school graduates who attend Pennsylvania's public universities and community colleges takes at least one remedial course in math, reading or English.

From January to June 2011, 47 Panther Valley students took the SAT exams. The district's Verbal Average Score was 474. The Math average score was 461. The Writing average score was 448.[33] Pennsylvania ranked 40th among states with SAT scores: Verbal - 493, Math - 501, Writing - 479.[34] In the United States, 1.65 million students took the exam in 2011. They averaged 497 (out of 800) verbal, 514 math and 489 in writing.[35]

Panther Valley High School offers a Dual Enrollment program. This state program permits high school students to take courses, at local higher education institutions, to earn college credits. Students remain enrolled at their high school. The courses count towards high school graduation requirements and towards earning a college degree. The students continue to have full access to activities and programs at their high school. The college credits are offered at a deeply discounted rate. The state offered a small grant to assist students in costs for tuition, fees and books.[36] Under the Pennsylvania Transfer and Articulation Agreement, many Pennsylvania colleges and universities accept these credits for students who transfer to their institutions.[37] For the 2009-10 funding year, the school district received a state grant of $8,595 for the program.[38]

Panther Valley School Board has determined that a pupil must earn 26 credits to graduate including: a required class every year in: math 4 credits, English 4 credits, Social Studies 3 credits, Science 3 credits, Physical Education 1 credit, Health .5 credit, Economics .5 credits, Personal Finance .5 credit, Computer Science 1 credit, Word .5 credit and electives.[39]

By law, all Pennsylvania secondary school students must complete a project as a part of their eligibility to graduate from high school. The type of project, its rigor and its expectations are set by the individual school district.[40] At Panther Valley School District a student's project must demonstrate service to the community or demonstrate participation in career development and must be completed by March 1 of the senior year in order to receive a diploma.

By Pennsylvania School Board regulations, for the graduating class of 2017, students must demonstrate successful completion of secondary level course work in Algebra I, Biology, English Composition, and Literature for which the Keystone Exams serve as the final course exams. Students’ Keystone Exam scores shall count for at least one-third of the final course grade.[41][42][43] In 2011, Pennsylvania high school students field tested the Algebra 1, Biology and English Lit exams. The statewide results were: Algebra 1 38% on grade level, Biology 35% on grade level and English Lit - 49% on grade level.[44] Individual student, school or district reports were not made public, although they were reported to district officials by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

The Classroom for the Future state program provided districts with hundreds of thousands of extra state funding to buy laptop computers for each core curriculum high school class (English, Science, History, Math) and paid for teacher training to optimize the computers use. The program was funded from 2006 to 2009. Panther Valley School District was denied funding by the Pennsylvania Department of Education after applying in 2006-07 and in 2007-08. The high school received $105,138 in 2008-09.[45] In Carbon County the highest award was given to Jim Thorpe Area School District - $258,394. The highest funding statewide was awarded to Philadelphia City School District in Philadelphia County - $9,409,073. In 2010, Classrooms for the Future funding was curtailed statewide due to a massive state financial crisis.

The district offers a wide variety of clubs, activities and costly after school sports. Eligibility for participation is determined by school board policy.

By Pennsylvania law, all K-12 students residing in the district, including those who attend a private nonpublic school, cyber charter school, charter school and those homeschooled, are eligible to participate in the extracurricular programs including all athletics. They must meet the same eligibility rules as the students enrolled in the district's schools.[46]

• Panther Valley High School Official Homepage
• Panther Valley High School athletics schedule and scores at HighSchoolSports.net.
• Panther Valley High School Football
• Panther Valley High School Wrestling
• Panther Valley High School JROTC
• Aerial Image of High School
• http://www.panthervalley.org/Schools/HighSchool/highschool.htm
• http://www.summithillborough.com/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=28&Itemid=54