The top reported proficiency rate is 64% in Science. The lowest is 44% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Emily Brittain El Sch
Emily Brittain Elementary is a small public school serving kindergarten through fifth grade in Butler, a county-seat city about an hour north of Pittsburgh. The school sits in a district that underwent significant structural change when Butler Middle School closed in 2022, moving fifth-graders back into elementary buildings like this one and consolidating grades in the remaining secondary schools.
The student body reflects the economic conditions of its city. Nearly all students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a figure that approaches universal participation. The enrollment is small, under three hundred students distributed roughly evenly across the six grades. The student population is predominantly white, with smaller shares of Black, multiracial, Hispanic, and Asian students. Specific counts for students with IEPs or English learners were not available in the data provided.
On state assessments, Emily Brittain's results are below the midpoint when compared to other districts in Butler County. In math and English language arts proficiency on 2024-25 tests, the school's proficiency rates fall in the bottom quartile among county peers. Science performance, measured most recently in 2023-24, was notably stronger, with a majority of tested students reaching proficiency. The school's overall proficiency index across tested subjects places it at the bottom quartile of the county's districts. These numbers suggest that academic support is a significant area where a parent may want to look further into what the school is doing to strengthen instruction.
Butler itself is a place of modest but visible civic effort. Downtown has walkable Main Street anchors including shops, galleries, and a restored historic district; the county courthouse, library, and theater center civic life. The broader county is growing, though most new housing development is happening in Cranberry Township to the south, closer to Pittsburgh, rather than in Butler proper. Within the city, the school district has recently reopened Broad Street Elementary after a period of closure, and it has invested in capital improvements funded by recent property tax increases, the first the district enacted in about a decade. Housing values in the zip code are below the state average, and rent is relatively affordable compared to national benchmarks, though rent prices have risen sharply year over year.
Emily Brittain is a neighborhood school in a working-class city with strong institutional civic presence but limited commercial or housing growth. The school serves students with high economic need and demonstrates areas where academic outcomes lag peers in the county. For families in this attendance area, it is the local option; the question becomes what academic supports and interventions the school can offer to address the performance gap.
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