The top reported proficiency rate is 88% in Science. The lowest is 60% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Fern Hill El Sch
Fern Hill Elementary serves kindergarten through fifth grade in West Chester, a historic borough that sits as the Chester County seat and home to West Chester University. The school enrolls a mixed student body in a setting where the neighborhood is actively adding housing and the district is managing the effects of recent growth and boundary shifts.
The neighborhood itself is walkable and mixed-use. Downtown West Chester centers on a historic courthouse grid with shops, restaurants, and bars along Gay and High Streets, anchored by the university immediately adjacent. Housing in West Chester runs from attached brick rowhouses and twins in the historic neighborhoods to newly built townhomes and multifamily apartments. Home values in the 19380 zip code are above the state benchmark, and rental prices track in the middle range for the region. The borough is in an active development phase, with multiple apartment complexes and townhome projects publicly proposed or in planning, which means the student population and peer composition are likely to shift over the next several years.
The district itself made a substantial change to elementary pedagogy starting in 2024-25. All eleven elementary schools, including Fern Hill, eliminated dedicated weekly library class and introduced a new Design Lab program instead. Kindergarteners and first graders keep a weekly library period, but older elementary students now have a flexible or open-circulation library model rather than scheduled time. This is a permanent shift in how students access books and how their school week is structured, something a parent should understand as a foundational part of the elementary experience here.
Academically, Fern Hill's recent state test results show proficiency at mixed levels. In English language arts, about three in five students scored at proficient or above on the 2024-25 state assessment. In math, the proficiency rate was somewhat lower, at about three in five students. Science proficiency, measured most recently in 2022-23, was notably higher at nearly nine in ten students. The school's overall proficiency index, averaged across tested subjects and grades, places it in the top quartile among districts in Chester County. State testing data for kindergarten through second grade is not available because Pennsylvania does not assess those grades, so a full picture of early-elementary performance is not present in the state data.
The school serves about four hundred students across all six grades. About one in four students qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch. The student body is predominantly white, with representation from Asian, Hispanic, and multiracial students, and smaller numbers of Black students. Data on the share of students with IEPs or English learners was not available, so you may want to ask the school directly about those populations and the support services they offer.
The district has experienced significant enrollment growth and boundary shifts. A 2021-22 redistricting plan tied to the opening of a new elementary school reset attendance boundaries across the district, affecting well over a thousand students. Fern Hill itself saw a measurable loss of students as a result of that redistricting, something that may continue to shape enrollment as new housing comes online in the neighborhood. A parent considering the area should ask the school and district about any anticipated future boundary changes or enrollment trends, particularly given the active development pipeline in West Chester.
The district also faced scrutiny in 2024 from the Pennsylvania Auditor General for using tax-increase exceptions as a routine budgeting tool while maintaining substantial fund balances. In response, the district publicly committed to staying within the state inflation index for the 2025-26 budget and declined special-education exceptions it otherwise qualified for. Property taxes in the district are set to rise in 2026-27, with the increase larger for residents on the Delaware County side of the district due to updated market-value calculations. This is a meaningful long-term cost consideration for families buying homes in or moving to the area.
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