The top reported proficiency rate is 87% in Science. The lowest is 51% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Margaret Ross El Sch
Margaret Ross Elementary serves kindergarten through fourth grade in Aliquippa, a small industrial city along the Ohio River northwest of Pittsburgh. The school sits within the Hopewell Area School District, which is currently undergoing a significant restructuring that will affect how families experience elementary education here.
The school enrolls a small group of students, with roughly balanced class sizes across the grade band. Just under half the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch. The enrollment is predominantly white, with smaller numbers of students who identify as multiracial, Black, or Hispanic; Asian and American Indian enrollment are each at zero. Data on students with individualized education plans and English learners were not available.
On state assessments, Margaret Ross shows uneven performance. In science, the school performed quite strong, with the majority of students reaching proficient or above. Mathematics proficiency came in at about two-thirds of tested students. English language arts proficiency was the lower area, with just over half of students demonstrating proficiency. This pattern suggests the school has particular strengths in science instruction but may want to examine its language arts approach; a parent interested in literacy support specifically might ask the school about its reading and writing curriculum and any interventions in place. Math sits in the middle ground.
When compared to other schools in Beaver County, Margaret Ross's overall proficiency index places it in the top quartile. The school is therefore performing above the typical proficiency level across its county peers.
Aliquippa itself is a city rebuilding after decades of population loss tied to the closure of the J&L Steel mills. The housing market is affordable relative to the national and state benchmarks. Downtown Franklin Avenue, once the commercial spine, is quieter now, though modest revitalization efforts including streetscape improvements and some new local businesses are underway. Most shopping and dining has shifted to the auto-oriented Brodhead Road corridor. Employment growth is beginning to return, driven by the Aliquippa Industrial Park on the former mill site and new investments like expanded manufacturing. Civic anchors include the historic B.F. Jones Memorial Library, and the city is served by local transit and sits a short distance from Pittsburgh.
The more immediate consideration for a family at Margaret Ross is the district's consolidation plan, publicly reported in October 2024. The Hopewell Area School Board selected a major restructuring that will eliminate the current neighborhood kindergarten through fourth grade model. The district will consolidate from five schools into two: a new K through 6 building and a reconfigured 7 through 12 facility. This shift will be funded through general obligation bonds repaid via property taxes, a cost families choosing to settle in the district would directly carry. For prospective families, this means Margaret Ross as currently configured will not continue; children now in the school will be part of the transition to the new elementary building. Understanding the timeline and whether your child's experience would span both the current school and the new one would be a conversation worth having directly with the district.
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