The top reported proficiency rate is 53% in English language arts. The lowest is 29% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Reynolds Jshs
Reynolds JSHS is a combined junior and senior high school serving grades seven through twelve in Greenville, a small Mercer County borough with a historic downtown and a residential character. The school sits in a community that has experienced long post-industrial decline but has recently shown incremental renewal activity.
The school's enrollment is small, drawing students across its grade span with the heaviest enrollment in the middle grades. Every enrolled student qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating the school serves a low-income population. The student body is predominantly white, with small populations of Hispanic students and students of other races and ethnicities. Data on the share of students with individualized education plans and English learners were not available.
In state math testing for grades three through eight, Reynolds scored in the bottom quartile relative to other districts in Mercer County. Less than a third of students tested met proficiency. In English language arts testing for the same grade span, the school achieved a modest proficiency rate around the lower-middle range for the county, with about half of students meeting proficiency. These results reflect a school facing real academic headwinds, particularly in mathematics. A parent may want to look into further detail with the school about intervention strategies, tutoring availability, and how the school is addressing the gap between math and ELA outcomes.
The school is part of Reynolds School District, a small district that has made structural changes to manage costs. Since 2021, Reynolds and the neighboring West Middlesex Area School District have shared a superintendent and special education director under an agreement now extended through mid-2028. The districts remain independent, each retaining its own identity, schools, and mascots. This arrangement is designed to achieve operational savings while preserving separate governance. In 2022, the Reynolds School Board raised property taxes by a modest increment, bringing the millage rate to 72 mills. This represents a continuing reliance on local property tax revenue to fund operations.
Greenville itself is the oldest community in Mercer County, built on a Scots-Irish town plan centered around a historic downtown. The borough has a compact walkable core along Main Street with mostly nineteenth-century brick architecture, anchored by civic spaces including Riverside Park and the Greenville Area Public Library. Recent activity includes three new downtown businesses, a community mural, and an adopted streetscape plan. The community is home to Thiel College and major employers including UPMC Horizon, Walmart, and St. Paul's senior living community. The town experienced significant population loss following deindustrialization but was designated financially distressed in 2021 and exited that status in late 2023.
The housing market in Greenville is soft. Median owner-occupied home values are roughly two-thirds of the Mercer County median, reflecting a community where housing is affordable but not appreciating rapidly. This is a place where families find low barriers to entry but limited signs of strong economic rebound.
Reynolds JSHS is a school serving a full economically disadvantaged student body in a community experiencing slow recovery. The academic performance, particularly in math, signals that families should understand the school's learning environment and support systems before enrolling. The district's shared-services arrangement and property tax strategy will continue shaping the resource picture for the next two years.
See more original research from School Decision →