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Section A: The Context of the Institution

A.1. The geography, history, and demographics of Selinsgrove and surrounding communities.

The Selinsgrove Area School District occupies a total land area of 104.6 square miles in the eastern portion of Snyder County, along the Susquehanna River, just east of the geographic center of Pennsylvania, about equidistant from Harrisburg and Williamsport.

Coextensive with the boroughs of Selinsgrove, Shamokin Dam, and Freeburg, and the townships of Monroe, Penn, Chapman, Jackson, Union, and Washington, Selinsgrove Area School District, with a population of approximately 20,000 and assessed real property of approximately forty-six million dollars, includes at least three-fifths of Snyder County's population and taxable wealth. Monroe Township, which encircles Shamokin Dam borough, represents the Selinsgrove Area School District's population and economic center.

The Selinsgrove Area School District is traversed by two heavily traveled east and west highways, namely U.S. Route 522 and Pennsylvania Route 35. Both of these highways lead into the Susquehanna Trail U.S. Route 11-15, a limited access highway which handles a north-south flow of traffic between Harrisburg and Williamsport.

The School District's countryside is a succession of rolling hills and these hills form promontories from which the Susquehanna Valley may be viewed as a vast panorama of scenic beauty. Residents have access to several recreational opportunities for boating, fishing, swimming, golfing, including Lake Augusta, formed by the fabridam located on the Susquehanna River at Shamokin Dam, and the Susquehanna Valley Country Club. In Selinsgrove Borough a Parks and Recreation Committee oversees five playgrounds; Selinsgrove Area Recreation Incorporated operates a swimming pool, and the Rotary Club of Selinsgrove maintains the Rotary Field with playing fields for soccer, softball, and baseball.

Selinsgrove, which is situated at the confluence of Penns Creek and the Susquehanna River, was an important trading post in early colonial times. After the canal along the river was put into operation in the mid-1800s, Port Trevorton, Selinsgrove, Hummels Wharf and Shamokin Dam became places from which trade emanated throughout the region. A railroad bridge spanning the river at Port Trevorton brought a steady stream of coal from the coal fields in Northumberland County.

The river trade plus the rich farm lands bordering the river proved to be an incentive encouraging a hardy stock of early settlers to come into the region. These immigrants were largely Germans coming from the Palatinate, and thus the area has a strong flavor of German and “Dutch” culture. Their interest has usually centered in what is practical and contributes to the good life.

Likewise in the region, there was an early establishment of the Freeburg Academy and the Moyer School of Music, both of which attracted students from the entire state. These institutions flourished during the later half of the nineteenth century and were replaced by the public high school. Further evidence of a desire for education can be seen in the establishment of the Susquehanna Missionary Institute, which later became Susquehanna University.

The Selinsgrove Area School District

Approximately 3,000 students are enrolled in the Selinsgrove Area School District. The district is composed of five buildings with the following configurations: Jackson-Penn Elementary, which is our Kindergarten Village; Selinsgrove Elementary, for grades 1-2; Selinsgrove Area Intermediate School, which is a grades 3-5 building; Selinsgrove Area Middle School, which houses grades 6-8; and Selinsgrove Area High School, serving grades 9-12. With the exception of Jackson-Penn Elementary, which is approximately one mile from the other buildings, all schools form contiguous parts of a unified campus setting. The proximity of the buildings allows for opportunities to share facilities and programs.

The history of the Selinsgrove Area High School facility

The Selinsgrove Area High School, serving grades 9-12, is the only high school in the district. Constructed in 1936, the facility received additions/renovations in 1942, 1954, 1968, and 1984. The school encompasses 148,225 square feet and occupies a generous 38-acre site with adequate external playing fields, especially when considering the adjoining middle school acreage. The newest substantial addition to the facility is an expanded and completely refurbished stadium, completed in the fall of 2005.

Social, economic, and political factors that affect our ability to achieve our mission, as well as our growth and improvement objectives

The population in the region since early colonial times has remained a people who are predominantly of Pennsylvania Dutch extraction. Industrial and commercial expansion has brought an increasing percentage of people who are of different cultural backgrounds, thus creating a change to the cultural patterns of the community. Selinsgrove is now experiencing an increase in cultural diversity, and this adjustment has generally been handled well by all parties. The strong Pennsylvania Dutch heritage will continue to be a part of the local community tradition, but it is slowly losing its preeminence as people from other areas of the state move to the expanding residential community.

Economically, most families in the community are middle class, although the lower middle class is more heavily represented than the upper middle class. The upper middle class and upper class comprise a relatively small group within the community. Selinsgrove does have a number of students who come from economically disadvantaged homes, an average of 26% to 28% qualify for free or reduced lunch. In the high school, however, only about 19.5% of students take advantage of this subsidy. In the judgment of our director of food services, this difference is the result of the relative unwillingness of older students to allow their peers to know of their participation in the program.

The climate for teaching and learning in Selinsgrove Area High School

Selinsgrove enjoys strong and effective leadership from principal Reed Messmore and assistant principal Charles (Chuck) Longwell. These educators actively encourage teachers to target specific goals for their students and to experiment with new or improved instructional strategies in order to achieve those goals. Both leaders help teachers to better understand the kinds and sources of data available to help understand individual student achievement, and both encourage teachers to make active use such data in planning for instruction. Our administrators generally focus first on what the school does well, but are candid about ways in which we can improve.

The Selinsgrove faculty are largely a veteran group. We regard Selinsgrove as a good place to teach, and we enjoy coming to work every day. We like our students, and we appreciate the essentially positive atmosphere in the building, as well as the general support of the community. We are serious about our work, and we actively seek and share ideas about how to better foster student success.

Many of our students are absolutely outstanding in a variety of ways—academic, artistic, athletic, musical, and technological—and provide multiple reasons for the school and community to be very proud indeed. However, our general heritage as a “blue collar,” rural community is now somewhat at odds with the emerging global emphasis on higher level thinking and advanced technological skills. As Selinsgrove moves forward, we will be pushing for greater academic and technical achievement from students across the entire spectrum of intellectual ability.

Selinsgrove’s professional and support staffs

Selinsgrove Area High School has a professional staff of sixty-five (65) and a support staff of forty-one (41). One hundred percent of the professional staff is rated “highly qualified” according to Pennsylvania standards.

Selinsgrove’s student population

Selinsgrove Area High School has a current enrollment of approximately 1000 students. Two-hundred thirty-seven (237) students graduated in the class of 2007. A survey conducted prior to their graduation reveals the following: 57% planned to enroll in a four-year college or university; 17% planned to enroll in a two-year college or trade or technical school; 18% planned to enter the employment market directly; 1% planned to enter the military; and 7% had other plans or were not sure.

Results for specific recent assessments provide a snapshot of overall student performance:

Sixty-five percent of the class of 2006 elected to take the SAT. Average scores for Critical Thinking/Reading (520), Mathematics (525), and Writing (510) all exceeded the average scores for Pennsylvania, and exceed the national scores by an average of sixteen (16) points. Scores for the class of 2007 were down slightly. They were Critical Thinking/Reading (496), Mathematics (506), and Writing (495).

In the 2007 PSSA, the class of 2008 achieved the following average scores and ratings: Writing, 1599, 90.1% Advanced or Proficient; Reading, 1423, 72% Advanced or Proficient; Mathematics, 1373, 48.6% Advanced or Proficient.

Selinsgrove offers Advanced Placement courses in American History, Biology, Calculus, Chemistry, English Language and Literature, European History, Psychology, and Statistics. Students who enroll in an A.P. course are required by Board policy to take the corresponding A.P. assessment. In the 2007-08 school year, when all courses except Chemistry were conducted, a total of 139 A.P. exams were completed by three (3) sophomores, forty-nine (49) juniors, and sixty-three (63) seniors. Of these exams, ninety (90) or 64.7% were scored “3” or higher. Among our 2007 seniors enrolled in A.P. courses, 62% completed at least two A.P. courses prior to graduation.

The school also administers the 4Sight series of assessments, to all students in grades nine through eleven, multiple times during the school year. These assessment results are used to monitor the students’ progress in regard to their proficiency in the state’s academic standards.

The vast majority of our faculty would agree that the vast majority of our students can be described as “good kids.” Most students come to school most of the time, with the result that we have a 96% attendance rate and a 94% graduation rate. With the exception of a relatively few chronic offenders, discipline referrals are considered reasonable, given the size of our student body. In 2007, administrators handled a total of 604 referrals, and this number has been on a downward trend over recent years. Out of our entire student body, only thirteen (13) individual students were involved in incidents of violence and/or incidents that required police attention.

The vast majority of our students participate in one or more extracurricular activities. In addition, many of our students are actively involved in their communities. This trend is evident, among other ways, by the large percentage of state-mandated graduation projects that involve community service.

Locally developed assessments

Selinsgrove administers no locally developed assessments.

Unique components of the educational system

By the good fortune of geographic proximity and by virtue of the diligence of particular members of the professional and administrative staff, Selinsgrove is able to offer a number of unique educational opportunities to its students.

Susquehanna University, located in Selinsgrove, generously makes its curriculum available to Selinsgrove juniors and seniors who have demonstrated special industry and aptitude. Each year twelve to twenty students enroll in courses at the University, and most successfully complete the courses and earn college credits for their efforts. Our guidance department purposefully makes the scheduling process flexible enough to accommodate these students.

In addition, our students have the option of dual enrollment at Bloomsburg University, where they can complete their necessary credits for graduation while pursuing a full-time college education.

Students seeking hands-on learning in a technical or skilled career field can take advantage of the many opportunities afforded by Selinsgrove’s membership in the Snyder-Union-Northumberland (SUN) Vocational Technical School, located in nearby New Berlin, Union County. Each year approximately thirty-five (35) to forty-five (45) seniors, as well as a few underclassmen, enroll and earn their credits at SUN Vo-Tech.

Because of the efforts of our teachers in Special Education, Selinsgrove has established a program for special education students called “Seals’ Den.” This is a simulated self-sufficient living arrangement in an apartment in the borough. Some students divide their time between practicing independent living skills in the apartment and attending work placement. Other students divide their time between support classes at the high school and time in the apartment.

Finally, Selinsgrove maintains a “sister schools” relationship with Senshu University High School in Tokyo, Japan. Each fall, a delegation of Selinsgrove students and faculty travels to Japan, where they stay with host families, attend classes with their Japanese counterparts, and generally experience the Japanese culture. Each spring, a group of Japanese students and faculty visit us here at Selinsgrove, where they have similar opportunities. This relationship has provided an excellent opportunity for individual Selinsgrove students to appreciate a different culture more fully, and has helped the entire student body to develop its awareness of our global interconnectedness.

Financial resources

Key trends and/or changes in the institution’s community

As noted above, the cultural make-up of our school and our community is shifting. Although the population of the borough itself remains relatively constant, outlying residential districts continue to grow, with the result that our district is becoming in many ways more typically suburban. Simultaneously, our overall population of school-age children is projected to begin declining in the next year or two and to continue in a downward trend for at least the next five years. At the same time, however, we are experiencing the arrival of a significant number of families from outside the immediate area, and this trend is resulting in broader diversity within the community and the student body.

Relationship of AFG to other institutional initiatives

Our planning process for our first AFG accreditation has run concurrently with the district’s revision of its Strategic Plan. Co-chair of the AFG Planning Committee Donna Gavitt has served as the liaison with the Strategic Plan Committee. In addition, the leader of the Strategic Plan revision process, Director of Curriculum and Instruction Chad Cohrs, has served on the Planning Committee as well. These connections have served to keep both entities informed of each other’s efforts.

Other programs involving parents and the community in the school’s decision-making and planning process

In addition to being involved in the Middle States Planning Committee, parent representatives have participated in the process of updating the Strategic Plan. Selinsgrove Area High School also has highly active Music and Sports Boosters groups. Several parents participate in the Perkins Advisory Committee, which makes annual decisions about allocating Perkins grant monies.

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