The top reported proficiency rate is 88% in Science. The lowest is 52% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on North Clarion Co El Sch
North Clarion Co El Sch is a public elementary school serving pre-K through sixth grade in Tionesta, a small borough in Forest County that sits along the Allegheny River near the Allegheny National Forest. The school is part of North Clarion County School District and enrolls a small population of about that size for an elementary school serving a rural area. Nearly all students are white, and the school serves a population with high economic need; the free-or-reduced-price lunch count reported exceeds enrollment, which typically indicates data reporting that warrants a parent asking the school directly about how they assess and support food security.
The school is located in a region experiencing slow economic decline. Tionesta itself has seen employment fall in recent years and faces the structural challenges of rural Appalachia, though the town maintains modest civic anchors along its Main Street core: the Forest County Courthouse, a small library, and a visitor center are all within walking distance of the downtown. The surrounding area offers outdoor recreation through the national forest and Tionesta Lake. Housing in the area is affordable relative to Pennsylvania and national averages. The region has no public transit; families drive to school and to work.
On state testing, the school's proficiency results are mixed. In math for grades three through six, about half of students tested reached proficiency. In English language arts, proficiency was slightly higher at about half as well. Science results, measured most recently on a smaller tested group, showed much stronger performance at substantially above proficient. The science showing stands out as notably stronger than reading and math. The proficiency index—a summary across tested subjects—places this school in the top quartile among districts in Clarion County, meaning it outperforms the median school in its county comparison group. That relative standing reflects strength in science; a parent may want to understand why reading and math proficiency lags behind, and whether the school has strategies in place to close that gap. No trend data was available to show whether proficiency has been rising, falling, or stable over time.
The school serves all early elementary grades and thus has no high school completion or college-readiness metrics to report. No data on special education enrollment, English learner services, chronic absenteeism, or discipline were available. The district brief found no recent major policy changes or ballot measures to report. The state testing results and the school's enrollment composition are what the data supports; beyond that, a parent would benefit from visiting the school, asking about classroom composition by grade, literacy and numeracy instruction approaches, and how the school supports students who do not reach proficiency, especially in reading and math where the bar is lower than in science.
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