The top reported proficiency rate is 78% in Science. The lowest is 46% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Upper Dauphin Area El Sch
Upper Dauphin Area Elementary School serves kindergarten through fourth grade in Lykens, a small former coal borough in northeastern Dauphin County. The school sits on a rural highway campus outside the historic borough center rather than in downtown, and it draws students from a compact residential area with modest economic diversity.
The school enrolls about four hundred students across five grades. A substantial share qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic profile of the region. The student body is predominantly white, with small populations of Hispanic, multiracial, and other students. Data on special education enrollment and English learners was not available.
State testing results show mixed performance. In math, about half of tested third and fourth graders met proficiency. In English language arts, the proficiency rate was somewhat lower. Science performance was notably stronger, with proficiency well above the other subjects in the most recent available assessment. Across tested subjects and grades, the school's overall proficiency index places it in the top quartile among Dauphin County districts, a genuinely solid position.
Lykens itself is a small residential community working through postindustrial change. The borough's population declined from its coal-era peak and now numbers in the low thousands. Employment is centered in manufacturing, health care, and retail, with most workers commuting outward toward Harrisburg. Recent development has focused on Main Street revitalization and infill housing, including a bundled redevelopment of vacant buildings and a new housing project on a former school site. Homes in the area have been rising modestly in price. Daily civic life centers on the Northern Dauphin Library on Main Street and the Lykens Valley Rail Trail, which runs for several miles through wooded corridors. There is no fixed-route transit; nearly all commuting is by car.
The district itself is navigating budget pressure. The Upper Dauphin Area School District faced a substantial deficit in its 2024-2025 budget cycle, driven by collective bargaining salary increases, a sharp jump in health insurance costs, and spending on outside placements for students with intensive needs. A tax increase has been flagged as likely. Additionally, the district's high school has been placed on the state's bottom quartile list for combined math and reading performance, which triggers the Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit Program; this means high school families have the option to transfer to another district or nonpublic school. These are material considerations for families evaluating the full district context, even though this elementary school itself shows stronger performance relative to its county peers.
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