The top reported proficiency rate is 94% in Science. The lowest is 57% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Choconut Valley El Sch
Choconut Valley Elementary serves kindergarten through sixth grade in Friendsville, a very small rural borough in northern Susquehanna County near the New York border. The school sits on a rural campus on Stanley Lake Road, classified by the National Center for Education Statistics as a rural-fringe setting. The enrollment is small, distributed fairly evenly across the seven grade levels.
The student body is predominantly white, with a very high concentration of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch—nearly all students in the school. This reflects the economic context of the rural area. Data on special education and English learner populations was not available.
In the most recent state testing (2024-2025), Choconut Valley's proficiency in English language arts was solid at a healthy majority of students meeting standards. Math proficiency was lower, with about half the tested students in grades three through eight reaching proficiency. The school's science results from the prior year were notably strong. Overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades places Choconut Valley in the top quartile among the seven districts in Susquehanna County, reflecting a relative strength in the regional context.
The locale itself shapes the school experience. Friendsville has essentially no downtown; civic life is dispersed across a few small anchors like a borough office, a Catholic church, and the Choconut Inn restaurant. The area is overwhelmingly rural, with farmland and woodlands surrounding small residential clusters. Population is stable to slowly declining. There is no public transit; residents depend on private vehicles. The broader region connects to employment centers in Montrose, Pennsylvania and the Binghamton/Vestal, New York area.
Montrose Area School District, the parent district, has implemented Big Ideas Math as the standard curriculum from kindergarten through Algebra II, paired with i-Ready diagnostic and progress-monitoring software. This standardized approach shapes how math is taught and assessed across all MASD elementary schools. The district also conducted a formal K-12 English language arts curriculum review in 2023-2024, signaling an intentional reset of reading and writing programs. Older students from Choconut Valley advance to Montrose Area Junior/Senior High School.
For families in this rural corner of northeast Pennsylvania, Choconut Valley is the local elementary option within MASD. The school serves a population with substantial economic hardship, reflected in lunch-program enrollment. Testing results show particular strength in science and solid performance in reading, with room for growth in mathematics. The peer environment is small and rural. A parent may want to look into the school's approach to the math curriculum shift, given that proficiency rates in that subject lag behind the district's other tested areas, to understand how i-Ready and Big Ideas Math are being applied at the elementary level to support student growth.
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