The top reported proficiency rate is 76% in Science. The lowest is 28% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Victory El Sch
Victory Elementary serves kindergarten through sixth grade in the small rural borough of Harrisville, nestled in northern Butler County where farmland and modest residential streets form the everyday landscape. The school itself is located outside the borough proper, on Georgetown Road, reflecting the fact that Harrisville no longer operates its own schools as a borough; students attend campuses run by Franklin Area School District, the regional district that consolidated area schools years ago.
The school draws a student body of roughly two hundred children, the vast majority of whom qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The student population is predominantly white, with very small numbers of Black, Hispanic, and multiracial students. The demographics reflect the borough's own makeup: a small, aging, close-knit community where most families own their homes and many residents are retirees. Housing values in the Harrisville zip code are modest, roughly half the state benchmark, and the local economy is limited to small professional services, restaurants, and builders. Most working parents commute to nearby Slippery Rock or Grove City, or farther south to Pittsburgh.
State assessment data from the most recent year shows mixed academic results. In English language arts and mathematics on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment for grades three through eight, proficiency rates sit below thirty percent. Science proficiency, tested in a smaller cohort, was substantially stronger, with about three-quarters of tested students meeting proficiency. Overall, Victory Elementary's proficiency index places it in the top quartile among the five school districts in Venango County, the comparison set available.
The school grades out to sixth, so there is no graduation rate to report, and data on students receiving special education services or English learner support were not available. The district itself has faced notable budget pressure, with a projected deficit driven by health insurance costs, cyber charter enrollment, and transportation contracts, though the school board committed to holding any property tax increase to the state-allowed index for the 2025-2026 school year.
One concrete family benefit came into effect through the district: Franklin Area School District now offers free breakfast and lunch to all students under the federal Community Eligibility Provision, eliminating meal costs entirely. The district has also invested in the Pennsylvania School Safety Institute, an immersive training facility with augmented-reality simulators for emergency-response drills, a safety infrastructure asset unusual for a rural district.
The community itself is small and quiet. Harrisville Community Park anchors civic life with ball fields, playgrounds, a skate park, and walking paths. The nearest significant employers lie in neighboring towns; within Harrisville, the economy is dominated by local businesses and trades. The borough has seen modest population decline rather than growth in recent years, with minimal building-permit activity, so the school's enrollment is unlikely to expand.
Victory Elementary fits families seeking a quiet, affordable rural elementary setting where the majority of peers face economic hardship and where proficiency in reading and math trails state norms, offset partly by stronger science outcomes and strong peer performance relative to other schools in the county. A parent may want to look into further detail with the school about how it addresses the lower math and reading proficiency, what interventions are in place, and what the transition pathway looks like as students move to middle and high school in the district.
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