The top reported proficiency rate is 98% in Science. The lowest is 68% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Park Forest El Sch
Park Forest Elementary serves kindergarten through fifth grade in State College, a college-town borough built around Penn State's main campus in the Nittany Valley. The school sits in a region of steady housing growth and solid professional employment anchored by the university and Mount Nittany Health, with home values and rents reflecting a market that has drawn attention as one of Pennsylvania's hottest in recent years.
The school's enrollment sits at a moderate size for its grade span, with roughly balanced classes across grades and a student body that is predominantly white. A meaningful minority—roughly one-sixth to one-fifth of students—qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a rate that reflects some economic diversity within an otherwise affluent district.
In state assessment results, Park Forest shows uneven performance across subjects. Math proficiency sits in the mid-range for its cohort, with roughly three-quarters of tested third through fifth graders reaching proficiency. English language arts trails math slightly, with just under seven in ten students meeting the standard. Science performance, tested most recently a couple of years ago, was notably strong, approaching near-universal proficiency. Across all tested subjects, the school's overall proficiency index places it in the top quartile among Centre County districts, a meaningful distinction that suggests solid foundational learning happening across the building.
The school is part of State College Area School District, a district that has entered a sustained period of property tax increases. After holding taxes flat for two years during the pandemic, the district has raised them annually for the past several years and is projected to continue doing so. This is relevant for families weighing a move to the area: school funding pressures are real, and residential tax bills are trending upward. At the same time, the district is undertaking major facilities work. Mount Nittany Elementary, another school in the system, is completing a significant expansion by the start of the coming school year. More broadly, the district is moving forward with replacing Park Forest Middle School rather than renovating it, a multi-year project that will reshape the middle-school experience for students coming up from elementary buildings like this one.
State College itself is growing and changing. Downtown is increasingly dense, with recent mixed-use towers adding apartments and office space. New student housing developments are under way, and a major zoning rewrite is being considered to expand housing types and improve affordability. The borough has long walkable streets, farmers markets, and civic anchors like Schlow Library and the State Theatre. For families with school-age children, the area offers the rhythms of a college town—strong civic programming, robust parks, a highly educated population—alongside the practical reality of rapid growth and rising housing costs.
The school itself has no data on English learners or special education enrollment, so a parent may want to inquire directly about the school's capacity and approach in those areas. The data on overall attendance and staffing was also unavailable, leaving gaps in the full picture of school operations. Within what is reported, Park Forest appears to be functioning as a solid elementary school within a district managing growth and budget pressures, situated in a community that is prosperous but increasingly expensive and in flux.
See more original research from School Decision →