Indiana Area School District
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The Indiana Area School District is a public school district in Indiana County, Pennsylvania. It is composed of White Township and Armstrong Township, along with Indiana and Shelocta boroughs.
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[edit] Elementary schools
The IASD has four elementary schools, each serving grades K-6, and each serving a different part of the district. Ben Franklin Elementary serves Shelocta, Armstrong Township and west-central White Township. Dwight David Eisenhower Elementary School serves mostly the northwest corner of White Township, but also a small strip of western and southwestern White Township and the western third of Indiana Borough. East Pike Elementary School serves the eastern third of White Township and the northeastern corner of Indiana Borough. Horace Mann Elementary School has students from southern Indiana Borough and south-central and most of southwestern White Township.
[edit] Secondary schools
The IASD has two secondary schools. Indiana Area Junior High School has students from grades 7-9, and Indiana Area Senior High School has students from grades 10-12.
[edit] Demographics
Approximately 32,000 people live in the IASD, and 3,000 students enroll in the district. The average graduation rate is 92%, and the average graduating class contains 250 students. Approximately 76% of all graduates enroll in some sort of post-secondary education. As of 2005, district employs 257 staff members, 202 of whom have their master's degree or above. On average, each staff member has 17 years of experience with the district.
[edit] Academics
The IASD consistently demonstrates that it is in the top tier of public school districts. Recently, it was ranked as one of the top 100 school districts by Offspring Magazine.
[edit] Standardized tests
The IASD does especially well on standardized tests. It was once ranked third, out of 501 school districts, in scores on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment tests, or PSSAs, given to all 5th, 8th, and 11th grade students, and has received numerous accolades for its journalism and social studies programs, including a $349,000 grant given to the senior high history program. In addition, graduating classes have averaged up to 40 more points on the Scholastic Aptitude Test than the national average.
[edit] Post-secondary education
As stated above, each graduating class gets about 76% of its members into some sort of post-secondary education. Most of them attend Indiana University of Pennsylvania, which is located within the district. However, the classes of 2004 and 2005 have put students into the United States Naval Academy, Harvard University, Cornell University, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Virginia, the University of Notre Dame, and New York University, to name a few. The IASD also consistently gets multiple students into the three leading local universities, Carnegie Mellon University, The Pennsylvania State University and the University of Pittsburgh. In addition, many students who do not go on to post-secondary education choose to join the military instead.
[edit] Extracurricular programs
The IASD offers a great variety of extracurricular activities, the chief one among them being sports. The junior and senior high school also offer a great deal of clubs, and the majority of students participate in them.
[edit] Clubs
IJHS offers a small club program and IHS offers many clubs for the students to enjoy. The largest among them is a volunteer club, Builders' Club at IJHS and Key Club at IHS. Key Club counts about 25% of the IHS student body as members. At IHS, there is also Future Business Leaders of America, Relay For Life and many theater clubs among its 20+ clubs.
[edit] Sports
The entire district offers a wide variety of sports. The elementary schools have basketball, grouped by sex and grade. At the end of each school year, each school stages an "All-School Tournament," in which all players are eligible. IJHS offers students football, soccer, track and field, cross country and girls' volleyball for the first time in school. IHS has even more selection. Boys' baseball, girls' softball, winter track and field, tennis, golf, rifle, hockey and swimming and diving, in addition to the sports named above.
Ben Franklin's colors are green and gold, and the teams are known as the Braves. Eisenhower's colors are blue and gold, and the teams are known as the Eagles. East Pike's colors are red and white, and the teams there are known as the Chiefs. Horace Mann's colors are red and white, and teams there are known as the Warriors.
The colors of the junior- and senior high schools are red and black, and the mascot is the "Little Indians." The fight song is "Cherokee." This is taken from IUP's teams, which are known as the "Indians," and their fight song is "Cherokee" as well. In general, most teams are outfitted in white uniforms, but the football team also wears blood-red jerseys and black pants; the softball team wears gray, pinstriped uniforms; the basketball teams also wear black uniforms; and the hockey team has red, black and white uniforms.
Generally, the swimming and diving, ice hockey and girls' basketball and track and field teams are Indiana's strongest teams, while lately, the boys basketball team is among the weakest. The hockey team competes in the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League, while all other teams compete in the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League, or WPIAL.
[edit] Notable alumni/Indianians
- Actor Jimmy Stewart
- Author Tawni O'Dell
- American Football League running back Jim Nance
