North Hills Ranks 92nd Among PA Schools

The North Hills School District ranks 92nd in the state and 25th in Western Pennsylvania, according to a survey by the Pittsburgh Business Times.  

Last year, North Hills finished at No. 89 in the state, and No. 23 in Western Pennsylvania.

The newspaper develops the list based on three years of PSSA test scores in math, reading and science.

Here are this year's top five in Western Pennsylvania:

1. Upper St. Clair School District
2. Mount Lebanon School District
3. North Allegheny School District
4. Hampton Township School District
5. South Fayette Township School District

In reaction to the rankings, North Hills Superintendent Dr. Patrick J. Mannarino said this:

"Our students and teachers work tremendously hard to reach North Hills’ goal of academic excellence, and I am extremely proud of the effort and success displayed by a high percentage of our students. Consistently, our students continue to perform well when compared to their peers across Pennsylvania and the nation, and they continued that pattern this year.

A record number of students scored 3 or higher to earn college credit on Advanced Placement exams. SAT scores continued to climb as students scored well above state and national averages. North Hills High School was one of only 34 Pennsylvania high schools to be listed in the Washington Post's High School Challenge Index, and students topped their peers across the state on all three Keystone Exams by double-digit margins.

Standardized tests such as the PSSA are one measure of student achievement. The Pittsburgh Business Times ranking relies upon this measure to determine their rankings, and utilizing it, North Hills remains solidly ranked within the top 18 percent of districts in Pennsylvania. A deeper examination into the ranking also reveals that multiple demographics of North Hills students made vast improvements in this year’s ranking."

• West View third-graders rose from 190 to 80, a jump of 110 spots.
• McIntyre third-graders jumped from 93 to 49, animprovement of 44 spots.
• Ross third-graders rose from 53 to 40, a jump of 13 spots.
• West View fourth-graders leaped from 117 to 56, an increase of 61 spots.
• Highcliff fifth-graders jumped from 135 to 95, an improvement of 40 spots.
• West View fifth-graders rose from 173 to 96, a jump of 77 spots.
• Junior High seventh-graders improved 1 spot to number 37.

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