West Chester Area School District
Encyclopedia
The West Chester Area School District covers a 75 square miles (194.2 km²) basis, for the area of West Chester, Pennsylvania, United States. The borough of West Chester is the center of the district. The other parts include the surrounding townships of East Bradford, East Goshen, West Goshen
, West Whiteland, Westtown, and
Thornbury
, all in Chester County
, are part of the district, as is Thornbury Township
in adjacent Delaware County
.
The WCASD consists of ten elementary schools, three middle schools, and three high schools, as of the fall 2006 school year. Elementary schools include grades 1-5, middle schools grades 6-8, and high schools grades 9-12.
. For the 2006–2007 school year, the district had a $176.4 million budget.
For the third consecutive year, the West Chester Area School District has received the top rating of “Gold Medal District” by Expansion Management Magazine in its annual Education Quotient issue.
This year's rating places the school district among the top 17 percent of all public secondary school districts in the United States with an enrollment of at least 3,300 students. Those districts—totaling 3,819 and serving a population of more than 35 million students—were included in an extensive study conducted by the magazine.
The majority of Expansion Management readers are CEOs of small to mid-sized manufacturing companies, according to the magazine's website. "Many of these same business executives are actively engaged in the process of comparing locations around the country in order to determine the best location for a future manufacturing (or distribution center, call center, back office, etc.) facility," the magazine's website states. "These ratings provide them with an important tool to evaluate the high school graduate work force in those prospective communities."
The Education Quotient, or EQ, is calculated on a weighted scale that measures results in three major categories. The most important component is defined as the Graduate Outcome Index, which uses College Board scores and graduation rates to compare a district's educational efforts with other districts nationwide. College board scores are used because they represent a common test that high school students take around the country. Graduation rates are calculated by comparing the number of students in the fall semester of their junior year with the number of students who graduate the next year.
A second Resource Index measures a community's financial commitment to public education, including per-pupil expenditures, student-teacher ratios, and beginning and average salaries for teachers.
West Goshen
West Goshen can refer to:*West Goshen, California*West Goshen, Connecticut*West Goshen, Pennsylvania...
, West Whiteland, Westtown, and
Thornbury
Thornbury Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania
Thornbury Township is a township in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 3,017 at the 2010 census. It is adjacent to, and was once joined with Thornbury Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania.-History:...
, all in Chester County
Chester County, Pennsylvania
-State parks:*French Creek State Park*Marsh Creek State Park*White Clay Creek Preserve-Demographics:As of the 2010 census, the county was 85.5% White, 6.1% Black or African American, 0.2% Native American or Alaskan Native, 3.9% Asian, 0.0% Native Hawaiian, 1.8% were two or more races, and 2.4% were...
, are part of the district, as is Thornbury Township
Thornbury Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania
Thornbury Township is a township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 7,093 at the 2000 census. It is adjacent to, and was once joined with, Thornbury Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania.-Geography:...
in adjacent Delaware County
Delaware County, Pennsylvania
Delaware County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of 2010, the population was 558,979, making it Pennsylvania's fifth most populous county, behind Philadelphia, Allegheny, Montgomery, and Bucks counties....
.
The WCASD consists of ten elementary schools, three middle schools, and three high schools, as of the fall 2006 school year. Elementary schools include grades 1-5, middle schools grades 6-8, and high schools grades 9-12.
Mission statement
The mission of the West Chester Area School District is "to educate and inspire our students to achieve their personal best".About the West Chester Area School District
Almost 12,000 students from kindergarten through 12th grade attend schools in the WCASD. The class size average is more than 25 students. Over 900 are employed by the WCASD, with 64 percent holding at least a master's degreeMaster's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
. For the 2006–2007 school year, the district had a $176.4 million budget.
Recent Awards and Recognition
At Henderson High School, the Promethean torchlight award was given to a chemistry teacher, Kevin Orlando. This grant was awarded to only ten classrooms in the entire United States of America. This grant provides the classroom with many state-of-the-art equipment features, including the ActivWand, Expressions, and other technology.For the third consecutive year, the West Chester Area School District has received the top rating of “Gold Medal District” by Expansion Management Magazine in its annual Education Quotient issue.
This year's rating places the school district among the top 17 percent of all public secondary school districts in the United States with an enrollment of at least 3,300 students. Those districts—totaling 3,819 and serving a population of more than 35 million students—were included in an extensive study conducted by the magazine.
The majority of Expansion Management readers are CEOs of small to mid-sized manufacturing companies, according to the magazine's website. "Many of these same business executives are actively engaged in the process of comparing locations around the country in order to determine the best location for a future manufacturing (or distribution center, call center, back office, etc.) facility," the magazine's website states. "These ratings provide them with an important tool to evaluate the high school graduate work force in those prospective communities."
The Education Quotient, or EQ, is calculated on a weighted scale that measures results in three major categories. The most important component is defined as the Graduate Outcome Index, which uses College Board scores and graduation rates to compare a district's educational efforts with other districts nationwide. College board scores are used because they represent a common test that high school students take around the country. Graduation rates are calculated by comparing the number of students in the fall semester of their junior year with the number of students who graduate the next year.
A second Resource Index measures a community's financial commitment to public education, including per-pupil expenditures, student-teacher ratios, and beginning and average salaries for teachers.
Elementary Schools
- East Bradford Elementary
- East Goshen Elementary
- Exton Elementary
- Fern Hill Elementary
- Glen Acres Elementary
- Hillsdale ElementaryHillsdale Elementary-About Hillsdale:Hillsdale Elementary School is located on W. Market Street on the edge of downtown West Chester, PA.Hillsdale is one of 10 elementary schools in the West Chester Area School District. It first opened in 1976 to grades Kindergarten - 5th Grade...
- Mary C. Howse Elementary
- Penn Wood Elementary
- Sarah Starkweather Elementary
- Westtown-Thornbury Elementary
Secondary Schools
- Fugett Middle SchoolFugett Middle SchoolJ.R. Fugett Middle School is located in West Chester in the Philadelphia suburbs, in south-east Pennsylvania, it is part of West Chester Area School District . It is right on the border of the East Goshen and West Goshen, on Ellis Lane and Paoli Pike...
- Peirce Middle SchoolPeirce Middle SchoolPeirce Middle School, founded as West Chester North Junior High School and now officially known as E. N. Peirce Middle School, is one of 3 middle schools in the West Chester Area School District, Pennsylvania. Five elementary schools feed into Peirce Middle School, East Bradford Elementary, 70% of...
- Stetson Middle School
- Henderson High School
- East High School
- Rustin High SchoolRustin High SchoolBayard Rustin High School is the third and newest high school of the West Chester Area School District in West Chester, Pennsylvania, named after civil rights activist Bayard Rustin, himself a West Chester native. Construction began in 2003 and the school opened for the 2006-2007 school year...