The top reported proficiency rate is 94% in Science. The lowest is 61% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Mountaintop Area El Sch
Mountaintop Area Elementary serves kindergarten through fifth grade in Snow Shoe, a small rural borough on the Mountain Top plateau north of Interstate 80 in Centre County. The school is part of Bald Eagle Area School District, which spans four small communities: Howard, Port Matilda, Snow Shoe, and Wingate.
The school's enrollment is small, with a student body that is overwhelmingly white and includes a substantial share who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The district recently completed a facilities upgrade that included a new roof at Mountaintop Elementary, part of a larger capital project that expanded career and technical education and athletic facilities on the district's main campus. For the second consecutive year, the school district approved its budget with no increase to local property taxes, a concrete sign of affordability stability in a region where median home values fall below state and national benchmarks.
On state assessments, the school shows uneven performance. In science, the results are notably strong. In math and English language arts, proficiency rates are in the low-to-mid range. Math proficiency sits around the typical performance across the county's districts, while ELA trails somewhat. Testing data come only from grades three through five, the grades that Pennsylvania assesses. The school does not report data on chronic absenteeism, graduation rates, or discipline; these metrics either do not apply to an elementary school or were not available.
Snow Shoe itself is a working-class community with roots in coal and lumber. The local economy now centers on a fired-brick manufacturer and a FedEx Freight terminal at the interstate interchange, along with small service businesses. The borough has experienced modest population decline over the past decade, and the housing stock is older, with few new homes being built. A public swimming pool and park facilities exist for summer recreation and youth sports, and a Rails-to-Trails corridor connects to hiking and biking. Residents drive to nearly all destinations; the average work commute reflects the rural setting and distance to larger employment centers like State College, which lies to the southeast.
For families considering this school, the fit hinges on comfort with a small, rural setting where the peer group is predominantly white and economically mixed, and where transportation is a daily necessity. The science results suggest solid teaching in that domain. The math and ELA results are closer to midpoint for the county and may be worth discussing directly with the school to understand what support or intervention strategies are in place. The district's commitment to holding property taxes flat signals fiscal caution and may appeal to families prioritizing affordability over rapid growth or new development.
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