William Penn Senior High School

The William Penn Senior High School is a large, urban, public high school serving the City of York, Pennsylvania in York County, Pennsylvania. Enrollment has declined to 876 pupils in 2014. It is the sole high school operated by the School District of the City of York. The School provides grades 9th through 12th, with 87.6% of pupils eligible for a free lunch due to family poverty. Additionally, 36% of pupils received special education services, while 1% of pupils were identified as gifted. The school employed 82 teachers.^[11] Per the PA Department of Education 100% of the teachers were rated "Highly Qualified" under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, in 2010, the school had 1,329 pupils enrolled in grades 7th through 12th, with 609 students receiving a federal free or reduced-price lunch due to family poverty. The school employed 108 teachers, yielding a student–teacher ratio of 12:1.^[12]

Beginning with the 2015-16 school year, all the schools in the District, except the high school, will add 40 minutes of instruction time to the school day. At the high school, all the teachers prep time will be placed at the end of the school day and the students will continue with the shorter school day. District officials reported they did not want to interfere with sports or after school events.^[13]

Truancy Court

William Penn Youth Court Alliance is an alternative to going to court for truant 9th grade students. Students’ parents/guardians have the option of choosing Youth Court Alliance over a citation to the Magisterial District Court. The parent/guardian and the student participate in a court-simulated procedure to address the issues causing truancy.^[14][15]

Graduation rate

In 2014, City of York School District's graduation rate was 82%.^[16]

• 2013 - 74%^[17]
• 2012 - 73%.^[18]
• 2011 - 71%.^[19]
• 2010 - 70%, the Pennsylvania Department of Education issued a new, 4-year cohort graduation rate.^[20]

According to traditional graduation rate calculations

• 2011 - 76%
• 2010 - 71% ^[21]
• 2009 - 65%^[22]
• 2008 - 65%^[23]
• 2007 - 65%^[24]
• 2005 - 63%^[25]

Academic Achievement

Opportunity Scholarships

Each school year 2010 through 2015, William Penn Senior High School has been listed as one of the lowest 15% of pEnnsylvania public schools for academic achievement in reading and mathematics.^[26] Parents and students may be eligible for scholarships to transfer to another public or nonpublic school through the state's Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit Program passed in June 2012.^[27] The scholarships are limited to those students whose family's income is less than $60,000 annually, with another $12,000 allowed per dependent. Maximum scholarship award is $8,500, with special education students receiving up to $15,000 for a year's tuition. Parents pay any difference between the scholarship amount and the receiving school's tuition rate. Students may seek admission to a neighboring public school district. Each year the PDE publishes the tuition rate for each individual public school district.^[28] Eight public schools in York County were among the lowest-achieving schools in Pennsylvania, in 2011. According to the report, parents in 414 public schools (74 school districts) were offered access to these scholarships.

2014 School Performance Profile

William Penn Senior High School achieved 48.3 out of 100. Reflects on grade level reading, mathematics and science achievement. In reading/literature - 44.5% were on grade level. In Algebra 1, 40.8% showed on grade level skills. In Biology, 18% demonstrated on grade level science understanding at the end of the course.^[29][30] Statewide, the percentage of high school students who scored proficient and advanced in Algebra I increased to 39.7% to 40.1%. The percentage of high school students who scored proficient and advanced in reading/literature declined to 52.5%. The percentage of high school students who scored proficient and advanced in biology improved from 39.7% to 41.4%.^[31]

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, 2,134 of 2,947 Pennsylvania public schools (72 percent of Pennsylvania public schools), achieved an academic score of 70 or higher.^[32] Fifty-three percent of schools statewide received lower SPP scores compared with last year's, while 46 percent improved. A handful were unchanged.^[33][34]

Compared with last year, the percentage of schools that earned below 60 declined by nearly 1 percent per Secretayr of Education Carolyn Dumaresq. She reported that this is an indication that student achievement is improving as school resources are being used better.^[35]

2013 School Performance Profile

William Penn Senior High School achieved 42.7 out of 100. Reflects on grade level reading, mathematics and science achievement. In reading/literature - just 51% were on grade level. In Algebra 1, 38.56% showed on grade level skills at the end of the course. In Biology, only 15% showed on grade level science understanding at the end of the course.^[36] According to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, 2,181 public schools (less than 73 percent of Pennsylvania public schools), achieved an academic score of 70 or higher. Pennsylvania 11th grade students no longer take the PSSAs. Instead, beginning in 2012, they take the Keystone Exams at the end of the associated course.^[37]

AYP history

In 2012, William Penn Senior High School declined to Corrective Action II 7th Year status due to chronic, low student achievement in reading, math and science.

• 2011 - declined to Corrective Action II 6th Year status due to chronic, low student achievement in all areas tested.^[38]
• 2010 - declined to Corrective Action II 5th Year status due to chronically poor student achievement in 2010.^[39] Under the No Child Left Behind Act, the school administration was required to offer a transfer to the students to a successful school in the district. Additionally, the Pennsylvania Department of Education required the administration to develop and submit for its approval a school improvement plan.
• 2009 - declined to Corrective Action II 4th Year status due to chronically poor student achievement.
• 2008 - declined to Corrective Action II 3rd Year status due to continuing low student achievement.^[40]
• 2007 - declined to Corrective Action 2 (second year) AYP status
• 2006 - declined to Corrective Action 2 (first year) AYP status^[41]
• 2005 - declined to Corrective Action 1 AYP status - Under No Child Left Behind, the administration was required to notify parents of the low achievement at the school and to offer a transfer to a better performing school in the District. They were also required to provide tutoring to failing students.
• 2004 - declined to School Improvement 11 AYP status
• 2003 - School Improvement 1 AYP status due to low student achievement in reading and math

In 2009, William Penn Senior High School ranked 604th out of 666 Pennsylvania high schools for the reading and mathematics achievement of its students.^[42]

PSSA Results

Pennsylvania System of School Assessments, commonly called PSSAs are No Child Left Behind Act related examinations which were administered from 2003 through 2012, in all Pennsylvania public high schools. The exams were administered in the Spring of each school year. The goal was for 100% of students to be on grade level or better in reading and mathematics, by the Spring of 2014. The tests focused on the state's Academic Standards for reading, writing, mathematics and science. The Science exam included content in science, technology, ecology and the environmental studies. The mathematics exam included: algebra I, algebra II, geometry and trigonometry. The standards were first published in 1998 and are mandated by the Pennsylvania State Board of Education.^[43]

In 2013, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania changed its high school assessments to the Keystone Exams in Algebra 1, Reading/literature and Biology1. The exams are given at the end of the course, rather than all in the spring of the student's 11th grade year.^[44]

11th Grade Reading:

• 2012 - 33% on grade level, (40% below basic). State - 67% of 11th graders are on grade level.^[45]
• 2011 - 38% (47% below basic). State - 69.1% ^[46]
• 2010 – 31% (48% below basic). State - 67% ^[47]
• 2009 – 35%, State – 65%^[48]
• 2008 – 32%, State – 65%^[49]

11th Grade Math

• 2012 - 32% on grade level (51% below basic). In Pennsylvania, 59% of 11th graders are on grade level.^[50]
• 2011 - 26% (58% below basic). State - 60.3%^[51]
• 2010 – 27% (55% below basic). State - 59%
• 2009 – 24.8%, State – 56%^[52]
• 2008 – 32%, State – 55%^[53]

11th Grade Science:

• 2012 - 10% on grade level (54% below basic). State - 42% of 11th graders were on grade level.^[54]
• 2011 - 11% (53% below basic). State - 40% ^[55]
• 2010 – 10% (56% below basic). State - 39%
• 2009 – 9.6%, State – 40%
• 2008 – 8%, State – 39%^[56]

Science in Motion William Penn High School took advantage of a state program called Science in Motion which brought college professors and sophisticated science equipment to the school to raise science awareness and to provide inquiry-based experiences for the students. The Science in Motion program was funded by a state appropriation and cost the school nothing to participate.^[57] The school worked with Gettysburg College to provide the experiences.

College remediation

According to a Pennsylvania Department of Education study released in January 2009, 54% of William Penn Senior 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.^[58] 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.^[59] 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

In 2014, City of York School District students took the SAT exams. The District's Verbal Average Score was 404. The Math average score was 408. The Writing average score was 373.^[60] Statewide in Pennsylvania, Verbal Average Score was 497. The Math average score was 504. The Writing average score was 480. The College Board also reported that nationwide scores were: 497 in reading, 513 in math and 487 in writing.^[61]

In 2013, 112 City of York School District students took the SAT exams. The District's Verbal Average Score was 363. The Math average score was 378. The Writing average score was 341. The College Board reported that statewide scores were: 494 in reading, 504 in math and 482 in writing. The nationwide SAT results were the same as in 2012.^[62]

In 2012, 172 School District of York City students took the SAT exams. The District's Verbal Average Score was 376. The Math average score was 375. The Writing average score was 349. The statewide Verbal SAT exams results were: Verbal 491, Math 501, Writing 480. In the USA, 1.65 million students took the exams achieving scores: Verbal 496, Math 514, Writing 488. According to the College Board the maximum score on each section was 800, and 360 students nationwide scored a perfect 2,400.

In 2011, 117 York City School District students took the SAT exams. The district's Verbal Average Score was 410. The Math average score was 416. The Writing average score was 370.^[63] Pennsylvania ranked 40th among states with SAT scores: Verbal - 493, Math - 501, Writing - 479.^[64] 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.^[65]

AP Courses

In 2014, William Penn Senior High School offered 4 Advanced Placement (AP) courses at a higher cost than regular courses. The school normally retains $9 of that fee as a rebate to help with administrative costs. In 2012, the fee was $89 per test per pupil. Students have the option of taking College Board approved courses and then taking the College Board's examination in the Spring. Students, who achieve a 3 or better on the exam, may be awarded college credits at US universities and colleges. Each higher education institution sets its own standards about what level of credits are awarded to a student based on their AP exam score. Most higher education give credits for scores of 4 or 5. Some schools also give credits for scores of 3. High schools give credits towards graduation to students who take the school's AP class. At William Penn Senior High School 8% of students who took an AP course earned a 3 or better on the exam.^[66]

Graduation requirements

The City of York School Board has determined that each student must earn 22 credits, including English 4 credits, Math 4 credits, Science 3 credits, Social Studies 3 credits, Health/PE 1 credit, Wellness 1 credit, and electives 5 credits. Students must also complete a graduation project which provides 1 credit towards graduation. Students can earn one Wellness credit by participating in: JROTC, Varsity Sports, or Marching Band during the school year.^[67]

By law, all Pennsylvania secondary school students were required to complete a project as a part of their eligibility to graduate from high school. The type of project, its rigor and its expectations are set by the individual school district.^[68] The district's project focuses on career development.^[69] Effective with the graduating class of 2017, the Pennsylvania Board of Education eliminated the state mandate that students complete a culminating project in order to graduate.^[70]

By Pennsylvania School Board regulations, beginning with the class of 2017, public school students must demonstrate successful completion of secondary level course work in Algebra I, Biology, and English Literature by passing the Keystone Exams.^[71][72][73] For the class of 2019, a composition exam will be added. For the class of 2020, passing a civics and government exam will be added to the graduation requirements.^[74] In 2011, Pennsylvania high school students field tested the Algebra 1, Biology and English Lit exams. The statewide results were: Algebra 1 38% on grade level, Biology 35% on grade level and English Lit - 49% on grade level.^[75] Individual student, school or district reports were not made public, although they were reported to district officials by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. Students identified as having special needs and qualifying for an Individual Educational Program (IEP) may graduate by meeting the requirements of their IEP.

School safety and bullying

The School District of the City of York administration reported there were zero incidents of bullying in the District in 2013. There were multiple sexual incidents involving students including: sexual assaults 2 and sexual harassment. Additionally, there were 2 assaults on students, several bomb threats, 4 cases of disorderly conduct, There were multiple weapons incidents. The local law enforcement was involved in thirty-five (35) incidents at the schools with 35 arrests.^{[76] [77]} Each year the school safety data is reported by the district to the Safe School Center which then publishes the compiled reports online. Nationally, nearly 20% of pupils report being bullied at school.^[78]

The federal No Child Left Behind Act established the Unsafe School Choice Option.^[79] Each state that receives federal funds was mandated to establish a statewide policy requiring that a student at a “persistently dangerous” public school be allowed to transfer/enroll in a safe public school. The policy permitted a student who becomes the victim of a violent criminal offense, while in or on the grounds of any public school that he or she attends, to transfer to a safe public school. Each year since 2006, the Pennsylvania Department of Education has released a list of Persistently Dangerous Schools. City of York School District schools have not been on the lists.^[80]

The York City School Board has provided the district's antibully policy online.^[81] All Pennsylvania schools are required to have an anti-bullying policy incorporated into their Code of Student Conduct. The policy must identify disciplinary actions for bullying and designate a school staff person to receive complaints of bullying. The policy must be available on the school's website and posted in every classroom. All Pennsylvania public schools must provide a copy of its anti-bullying policy to the Office for Safe Schools every year, and shall review their policy every three years. Additionally, the District must conduct an annual review of that policy with students.^[82] The Center for Schools and Communities works in partnership with the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime & Delinquency and the Pennsylvania Department of Education to assist schools and communities as they research, select and implement bullying prevention programs and initiatives.^[83][84] Education standards relating to student safety and anti harassment programs are described in the 10.3. Safety and Injury Prevention in the Pennsylvania Academic Standards for Health, Safety and Physical Education.^[85]

Grants

Project 720

Project 720 was a high school reform program implemented for three years under the Rendell administration. The intent was to increase academic rigor and improve the instruction of teachers in the Commonwealth’s high schools. Teachers were expected to use data driven instructional practices and to meet the needs of diverse learners.^[86] The 720 in the name referred to the number of days a student was in high school in ninth through 12th grades. High school’s applied for funding and were required to agree to report to the PDE their plans, their actions and the outcomes. In 2007-08 budget year, the Commonwealth provided $11 million in funding. York City School District was one of 161 PA public school district to apply, receiving $363,000 funding over three years.^[87][88] For 2010-11, Project 720 funding was decreased to $1.7 million by Governor Rendell. The grant program was discontinued effective with the 2011-12 state budget.^[89]

Classrooms for the Future grant

The Classroom for the Future state program provided districts with hundreds of thousands of extra state funding to buy laptop computers for each core curriculum high school class (English, Science, History, Math) and paid for teacher training to optimize the computers use. The program was funded from 2006 to 2009. York City School District did not apply to participate in 2006–07. In 2007–08, the York City School District received $310,138. The District received $53,664 in 2008–09 for a total of $363,802.^[90] Among the public school districts in York County, the highest award was given to West Shore School District which received $1,023,131. The highest funding statewide was awarded to Philadelphia City School District in Philadelphia County - $9,409,073. The grant program was discontinued by Governor Edward Rendell as part of the 2009-10 state budget.

School Improvement grant

In 2012, the District applied and received $1.5 million in federal School Improvement grants. William Penn Senior High School adopted a transformation model.^[91] Under the Federal School Improvement Grants program, transformation requires: developing teacher and leader effectiveness; adopting comprehensive instructional programs using student achievement data and extending the learning time and create community-oriented schools.^[92] The school received $730,710 in the first year, $406,057 in the second year and $216,057 for the third and final year.

Wellness policy

The York City School Board established a district wellness policy in 2006 – Policy 246.^[93] The policy deals with nutritious meals served at school, the control of access to some foods and beverages during school hours, age appropriate nutrition education for all students, and physical education for students K-12. The policy is in response to state mandates and federal legislation (P.L. 108 – 265). The law dictates that each school district participating in a program authorized by the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq) or the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1771 et seq) "shall establish a local school wellness policy by School Year 2006."

The legislation placed the responsibility of developing a wellness policy at the local level so the individual needs of each district can be addressed. According to the requirements for the Local Wellness Policy, school districts must set goals for nutrition education, physical activity, campus food provision, and other school-based activities designed to promote student wellness. Additionally, districts were required to involve a broad group of individuals in policy development and to have a plan for measuring policy implementation. Districts were offered a choice of levels of implementation for limiting or prohibiting low nutrition foods on the school campus. In final implementation these regulations prohibit some foods and beverages on the school campus.^[94] The Pennsylvania Department of Education required the district to submit a copy of the policy for approval.

William Penn Senior HIgh School offers both a free school breakfast and a free or reduced-price lunch to children in low income families. All students attending the school can eat breakfast and lunch. Children from families with incomes at or below 130 percent of the federal poverty level are provided a breakfast and lunch at no cost to the family. Children from families with incomes between 130 and 185 percent of the federal poverty level can be charged no more than 30 cents per breakfast. A foster child whose care and placement is the responsibility of the State or who is placed by a court with a caretaker household is eligible for both a free breakfast and a free lunch. Runaway, homeless and Migrant Youth are also automatically eligible for free meals.^[95] The meals are partially funded with federal dollars through the United States Department of Agriculture.^[96]

In 2013, the USDA issued new restrictions to foods in public schools. The rules apply to foods and beverages sold on all public school district campuses during the day. They limit vending machine snacks to a maximum of 200 calories per item. Additionally, all snack foods sold at school must meet competitive nutrient standards, meaning they must have fruits, vegetables, dairy or protein in them or contain at least ten percent (10%) of the daily value of fiber, calcium, potassium, and Vitamin D.^[97] In order to comply with the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 all US public school districts are required to raise the price of their school lunches to $2.60 regardless of the actual cost of providing the lunch.^[98] The Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 mandates that Districts raise their full pay lunch prices every year until the price of non-subsidized lunches equals the amount the federal government reimburses schools for free meals. That subsidy in 2013-2014 was $2.93.

In 2014, President Obama ordered a prohibition of advertisements for unhealthy foods on public school campuses during the school day.^[99] The Food and Drug Administration requires that students take milk as their beverage at lunch. In accordance with this law, any student requesting water in place of milk with their lunch must present a written request, signed by a doctor, documenting the need for water instead of milk.^[100][101]

William Penn Senior HIgh School provides health services as mandated by the Commonwealth and the federal government. Nurses are available in the school to conduct annual health screenings (data reported to the PDE and state Department of Health) and to dispense prescribed medications to students during the school day. Students can be excluded from school unless they comply with all the State Department of Health’s extensive immunization mandates. School nurses monitor each pupil for this compliance.^[102][103] Nurses also monitor each child's weight.^[104]

The District participated in Highmark Foundation’s Healthy High 5 Health eTools for Schools grant which enabled mobile data collection of pertinent health and physical fitness screening data on students K-12 in a database held by InnerLink, Inc. in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.^[105] Health eTools for Schools also provided interdisciplinary research-based curriculum in nutrition, physical education and physical activity to participating districts. The program was discontinued in 2013 by Interlink, Inc.^[106]

Extracurriculars

William Penn Senior HIgh School students have access to a wide variety of clubs, activities and an extensive costly sports program. Eligibility for participation is determined by the school board policy.^[107]

By Pennsylvania law, all K-12 students in the district, including those who attend a private nonpublic school, cyber charter school, charter school and those homeschooled, are eligible to participate in the extracurricular programs, including all athletics. They must meet the same eligibility rules as the students enrolled in the district's schools.^[108][109]

Sports

Coaches receive compensation as outlined in the teachers' union contract. When athletic competition exceeds the regular season, additional compensation is paid.^[110]

According to Pennsylvania’s Safety in Youth Sports Act, all sports coaches, paid and volunteer, are required to annually complete the Concussion Management Certification Training and present the certification before coaching.^[111][112]

The PA Child Abuse Recognition and Reporting Act 126 of 2014 mandates that all volunteer coaches and all those who assist in student activities, must have criminal background checks. Like all school district employees, they must also attend an anti child abuse training once every three years.^{[113][114][115]}

Varsity

According to PIAA directory June 2015^[116]

References

York County, Pennsylvania Schools
Main School Districts Central York Central York High School Dallastown Area Dallastown Area High School Dallastown Area Middle School Dover Area Dover Area High School Eastern York Eastern York High School Hanover Public Hanover High School Northeastern York Northeastern York High School Northern York County Northern High School Red Lion Area Red Lion Area Senior High School South Eastern Kennard-Dale High School South Western South Western High School (Hanover, Pennsylvania) Southern York County Susquehannock High School Spring Grove Area Spring Grove Area High School West York Area West York Area High School York City William Penn Senior High School York Suburban York Suburban Senior High School
Other Schools Charter schools Lincoln Charter School York Academy Regional Charter School York Adams Academy Private schools York Country Day School Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg York Catholic High School Vo-Tech school York County School of Technology West Shore (partially located in Cumberland County) Cedar Cliff High School