The top reported proficiency rate is 68% in Math. The lowest is 60% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on East Forest El Sch
East Forest Elementary School serves children from pre-kindergarten through sixth grade in Marienville, a small rural unincorporated community in Forest County in northwestern Pennsylvania, about thirty miles from the county seat of Tionesta. The school is located in the village itself, on West Birch Street, making it a neighborhood anchor rather than a campus on the edge of town.
This is a very small school, with a total enrollment of about sixty students spread across eight grade levels. Nearly all students—a rate approaching complete coverage—qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic character of Marienville and the broader county. The student body is overwhelmingly white, with a very small share of multiracial students and a handful of Hispanic students; the school does not report data on students with IEPs or English learners, likely because numbers are too small to report under privacy rules.
On state testing, the school's performance is mixed. In mathematics, proficiency reached the upper-middle range. In English language arts, proficiency was notably lower, falling into the lower-middle band. Science testing data was suppressed, indicating very few students in tested grades took the assessment. The school serves grades through sixth, so the tested population is limited to third through sixth grade—roughly thirty-seven students tested in math and ELA. A parent may want to ask the school directly about its instructional approach in reading and writing, given the gap between math and ELA results, and about how it supports students who are not yet proficient.
Marienville itself is a woodland gateway community anchored by the Allegheny National Forest, with an economy tied to seasonal outdoor recreation (ATV, snowmobile, hiking, hunting), small businesses, lodging, and public employment. The dominant employer is a state correctional facility opened in 2001. The housing market is small and recreation-oriented—homes stay on the market for a modest timeframe, and median values are well below state and national benchmarks. Most residents rent rather than own. There is no public transit; car travel on state routes is the norm.
The school district as a whole has completed a district-wide solar installation across both of its buildings in 2024, paired with a new roof at East Forest, under a guaranteed energy-savings contract. This signals recent capital investment in the buildings and locks in long-term energy-cost savings, which eases pressure on the local school tax.
East Forest is the district's building serving the eastern end of Forest County. The other building, West Forest, sits more than thirty miles away near Tionesta. This is a very large geographic district—covering all of Forest County—serving a very small and dispersed student population. For families considering this school, the reality is a small, tight-knit setting in a rural woodland community with direct access to outdoor recreation and a school that has recently received capital investment. The academic results suggest strengths in mathematics instruction but warrant a closer conversation about reading and writing support.
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