The top reported proficiency rate is 61% in Science. The lowest is 27% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Jeannette Mckee El Sch
Jeannette McKee Elementary serves prekindergarten through sixth grade in a small, economically stressed city in Westmoreland County. The school enrolls a diverse student population in a place that has been in long-term population decline since its peak as a glass-manufacturing hub. Understanding what McKee offers and whom it serves means understanding both its academic position and the community it sits within.
The school serves a student body that is racially mixed, with roughly equal representation from white and multiracial students, a smaller black population, and few other groups. A substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The city of Jeannette itself is a dense, grid-patterned former industrial town about 25 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, with a historic downtown along Clay Avenue that contains shops, the public library, and civic institutions. The schools operate within this compact urban footprint rather than on a suburban campus. Housing values are well below state and national benchmarks, and the community is marked by older housing stock, vacant storefronts, and visible revitalization efforts focused on the downtown business district.
On state assessments, McKee's performance is low. In math and English language arts for grades three through six, proficiency rates fall well below what the typical Westmoreland County district achieves. Science proficiency, measured most recently in grades three through eight, is stronger, sitting around the middle range for the county. Overall, the school's proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile among county districts. This is a meaningful weakness a parent should understand. No trend data is available to show whether results are improving or declining.
The school's student population runs about mid-sized for an elementary serving K-6. The district has added dedicated support staff in recent years: a social worker and a school counselor/intervention specialist were brought on beginning in 2022-23, part of a broader shift to expand direct student support. Security was also changed, with a second armed guard replacing a city police resource officer.
The broader district context includes a sustained fiscal challenge. The Jeannette City School District raised its property tax millage in 2022-23 after years of flat rates, citing declining city property assessments. District leadership has publicly signaled that additional incremental tax increases are likely in coming years because falling property values continue to erode real-estate tax revenue. For families considering a home purchase here, this trajectory matters: school taxes are expected to move upward.
The city itself is in a state of deliberate, if gradual, revitalization rather than growth. Population has declined sharply over decades, falling from a historic peak to a substantially smaller base today. Vacant buildings and dilapidated properties remain visible on Clay Avenue, though recent community efforts—funded through the Neighborhood Partnership Program and private investment—have added murals, an amphitheater, parklet improvements, and drawn new small businesses like a bakery, boutique, and vinyl record shop. The Elliott Company, a large industrial manufacturer, remains the city's anchor employer and recently invested in a substantial testing facility on the former Jeannette Glass site.
McKee is embedded in a working-class Rust Belt town with roots in manufacturing and a character shaped by that history. It is not a high-performing school by county standards, and a parent seeking strong state assessment results would need to look elsewhere or work with the school to understand how it supports students below proficiency. What it does offer is a K-6 program in a place with real community ties, active civic anchors like the public library and parks, and a district that is investing in support staff. A parent moving to or staying in Jeannette should be clear-eyed about both the academic baseline and the fiscal path of the district, and have a direct conversation with the school about how it addresses low proficiency and what resources are available for individual students.
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