Delaware Valley School District

For the Delaware Valley School District located in New York see Sullivan West Central School

Delaware Valley School District
Address
236 Route 6 & 209 Milford , Pike , Pennsylvania 18337 United States
Information
Type	Public
Motto	"Educating for life's journey."
Superintendent	Dr. Candis M. Finan, Ed.D.
Principal	Collins
Grades	K-12
Number of pupils	3474 (2010)
• Kindergarten	197
• Grade 1	272
• Grade 2	246
• Grade 3	257
• Grade 4	251
• Grade 5	264
• Grade 6	259
• Grade 7	259
• Grade 8	281
• Grade 9	306
• Grade 10	309
• Grade 11	297
• Grade 12	276
• Other	Enrollment projected to be 3066 in 2020
Mascot	Warriors
Website	http://dvsd.schoolwires.net/dvsd/site/default.asp

The Delaware Valley School District is a midsized, rural, public school district located in Pike County, Pennsylvania. Delaware Valley School District encompasses approximately 191 square miles (490 km²), covering the Boroughs of Matamoras and Milford and Delaware Township, Dingman Township, Milford Township, Shohola Township and Westfall Township in Pike County, Pennsylvania. According to 2000 federal census data, it serves a resident population of 24,333. In 2009, the district residents’ per capita income was $20,553, while the median family income was $51,674. In the Commonwealth, the median family income was $49,501 and the United States median family income was $49,445, in 2010. According to District officials, in school year 2007-08 the Delaware Valley School District provided basic educational services to 5,685 pupils through the employment of 416 teachers, 241 full-time and part-time support personnel, and 25 administrators. Delaware Valley School District received more than $20.7 million in state funding in school year 2007-08.

The district operates one High School, two Middle Schools and four Elementary Schools.

Schools

Elementary Schools

• Delaware Valley Elementary School (K-6th)
• Dingman Delaware Primary School (K-2nd)
• Dingman Delaware Elementary School (3rd-5th)
• Shohola Elementary School (K-6th)

Secondary schools

• Delaware Valley Middle School (7th-8th)
• Dingman Delaware Middle School (6th-8th)
• Delaware Valley High School (9th-12th)

Governance

The school district is governed by 9 individually elected board members (serve four year terms), the Pennsylvania State Board of Education, the Pennsylvania Department of Education and the Pennsylvania General Assembly. The federal government controls programs it funds like Title I funding for low income children in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and the No Child Left Behind Act, which mandates the district focus resources on student success in acquiring reading and math skills.

The Commonwealth Foundation for Public Policy Alternatives Sunshine Review gave the school board and district administration a "D-" for transparency based on a review of "What information can people find on their school district's website". It examined the school district's website for information regarding; taxes, the current budget, meetings, school board members names and terms, contracts, audits, public records information and more.

Academic achievement

Delaware Valley School District was ranked 59th out of 498 Pennsylvania school districts in 2011, by the Pittsburgh Business Times. The ranking was based on five years of student academic performance on the reading, writing, math and three years of science PSSAs.

• 2010 - 63rd
• 2009 - 83rd
• 2008 - 88th
• 2007 - 109th out of 501 school districts.

In 2011, the Pittsburgh Business Times reported an Overachievers Ranking for 498 Pennsylvania school districts. Delaware Valley School District improved to 58th. In 2010, the district was 92nd. The editor describes the ranking as: "a ranking answers the question - which school districts do better than expectations based upon economics? This rank takes the Honor Roll rank and adds the percentage of students in the district eligible for free and reduced lunch into the formula. A district finishing high on this rank is smashing expectations, and any district above the median point is exceeding expectations."

In 2009, the academic achievement of the students of Delaware Valley School DIstrict was in the 96th percentile among 500 Pennsylvania School Districts. Scale - (0-99; 100 is state best)

Graduation Rate

In 2011, the graduation rate was 96%. In 2010, the Pennsylvania Department of Education issued a new, 4 year cohort graduation rate. Delaware Valley High School's rate was 88% for 2010.

According to traditional graduation rate calculations

• 2010 - 94%
• 2009 - 94%
• 2008 - 95%
• 2007 - 95%

High School

Delaware Valley High School is located at. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, in 2010, the school reported an enrollment of 1,870 pupils in grades 9th through 12th, with 422 pupils eligible for a federal free or reduced price lunch. The school employed 135 teachers yielding a student teacher ratio of 13:1. All of the teachers were Highly Qualified Teachers under No Child Left Behind. In 2011, the school was in Warning AYP status due to lagging math achievement. In 2010, the school achieved AYP.

PSSA Results:

11th Grade Reading

• 2011 - 84% on grade level, (5% below basic). State - 69.1% of 11th graders are on grade level.
• 2010 - 85% (6% below basic). State - 66%
• 2009 - % (% below basic). State - 65%
• 2008 - % (% below basic). State - 65%
• 2007 - % (% below basic). State - 65%

11th Grade Math:

• 2011 - 68% on grade level (8% below basic). In Pennsylvania, 60.3% of 11th graders are on grade level.
• 2010 - 72% (10% below basic). State - 59%
• 2009 - % (% below basic). State - 56%.
• 2008 - % (% below basic). State - 56%
• 2007 - % (% below basic). State - 53%

11th Grade Science:

• 2011 - 48% on grade level (8% below basic). State - 40% of 11th graders were on grade level.
• 2010 - 51% (7% below basic). State - 39%
• 2009 - % (% below basic). State - 40%
• 2008 - % (% below basic). State - 39%

College Remediation Rate

According to a Pennsylvania Department of Education study released in January 2009, 22% of Delaware Valley High School graduates required remediation in mathematics and or reading before they were prepared to take college level courses in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education or community colleges. Less than 66% of Pennsylvania high school graduates, who enroll in a four-year college in Pennsylvania, will earn a bachelor's degree within six years. Among Pennsylvania high school graduates pursuing an associate degree, only one in three graduate in three years. Per the Pennsylvania Department of Education, one in three recent high school graduates who attend Pennsylvania's public universities and community colleges takes at least one remedial course in math, reading or English.

SAT Scores

From January to June 2011, 311 Delaware Valley High School students took the SAT exams. The district's Verbal Average Score was 505. The Math average score was 508. The Writing average score was 499. Pennsylvania ranked 40th among states with SAT scores: Verbal - 493, Math - 501, Writing - 479. In the United States 1.65 million students took the exam in 2011. They averaged 497 (out of 800) verbal, 514 math and 489 in writing.

Special Education

In December 2010, the district administration reported that 760 pupils or 13.9% of the district's pupils received Special Education services. Fifty six percent of the identified students had a specific learning disability.

In order to comply with state and federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act rules and regulations, the school district engages in identification procedures to ensure that eligible students receive an appropriate educational program consisting of special education and related services, individualized to meet student needs. At no cost to the parents, these services are provided in compliance with state and federal law; and are reasonably calculated to yield meaningful educational benefit and student progress . To identify students who may be eligible for special education services, various screening activities are conducted on an ongoing basis. These screening activities include: review of group-based data (cumulative records, enrollment records, health records, report cards, ability and achievement test scores); hearing, vision, motor, and speech/language screening; and review by the Special Education administration. When screening results suggest that the student may be eligible, the District seeks parental consent to conduct a multidisciplinary evaluation. Parents who suspect their child is eligible may verbally request a multidisciplinary evaluation from a professional employee of the District or contact the district's Special Education Department.

In 2010, the state of Pennsylvania provided $1,026,815,000 for Special Education services. This funding is in addition to the state's basic education per pupil funding, as well as, all other state and federal funding. The Pennsylvania Special Education funding system assumes that 16% of the district’s students receive special education services. It also assumes that each student’s needs accrue the same level of costs. The state requires each district to have a three year special education plan to meet the unique needs of its special education students. Overidentification of students, in order to increase state funding, has been an issue in the Commonwealth. Some districts have more than 20% of its students receiving special education services while others have 10% supported through special education.

The Delaware Valley School District received a $2,434,217 supplement for special education services in 2010. For the 2011-12 school year, all Pennsylvania public school districts received the same level of funding for special education that they received in 2010-11. This level funding is provided regardless of changes in the number of pupils who need special education services and regardless of the level of services the respective students required.