The top reported proficiency rate is 81% in Science. The lowest is 39% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Swiftwater Interm Sch
Swiftwater Intermediate School is a mid-sized regular public school serving fourth through sixth grades in Pocono Township, Monroe County, in the foothills of the Pocono Mountains. The student body is roughly evenly split across these three grades, with a near-universal economic profile: nearly all students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and the enrollment reflects the demographic character of the rural-residential area surrounding the Sanofi Pasteur vaccine manufacturing facility. The enrollment is roughly split between white students and students of color, with the largest minority group being Hispanic students, followed by Black students. Specific counts for students with individualized education plans or English learners were not available.
Swiftwater sits within Pocono Township's car-dependent landscape along PA Route 611, with no downtown of its own. Tannersville, a few miles away, serves as the township's civic and retail center. The broader area is a mix of low-density residential housing, forest, agricultural land, and wetlands, anchored economically by Sanofi Pasteur's vaccine plant. The region has grown steadily due to migration from New Jersey and New York, and recent years have brought new apartment development to the area. Housing values are moderate for the region and have risen modestly. Daily life depends on Monroe County Transit Authority (Pocono Pony) fixed-route buses, which school-age students ride free with a valid school ID; the school sits on its own campus rather than within walking distance of town services.
The school's most recent state assessment results show uneven performance across subjects. In math and English language arts, proficiency rates are below the state's target band, with less than half of students meeting proficiency standards in math and fewer still in language arts. Science performance, by contrast, was notably stronger the last time the state assessed it. When proficiency rates across tested subjects are averaged together, Swiftwater lands in the top quartile among school districts in Monroe County, a position that reflects the relative strength of science results against weaker performance in reading and math. A parent considering this school may want to look further into the school's current work on reading and math instruction, as these gaps warrant attention.
The Pocono Mountain School District, which operates Swiftwater Intermediate, ended an unusually long tax freeze in 2022 and has raised millage in each year since, a trend that matters for families weighing the cost of living in the area. The district has also launched a K-12 STEAM Integration Program that earned national recognition with the 2025 Magna Silver Award, signaling a sustained pedagogical commitment to integrated science, technology, engineering, arts, and math across every grade level. This program runs through the elementary and intermediate levels, so students coming into Swiftwater will have been exposed to that framework already, and the intermediate school maintains it as students move toward junior high.
State testing data for other measures such as chronic absenteeism or discipline was not available. No graduation rate applies to this grade band.
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