Shikellamy High School

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other meanings of 'Shikellamy', please see Shikellamy (disambiguation).

Shikellamy High School is a public high school located in Sunbury, Pennsylvania, USA. It is the senior high school for the communities of Northumberland Borough, Point Township, Rockefeller Township, Snydertown Borough, the City of Sunbury, and Upper Augusta Township. It is part of the Shikellamy School District. The school serves about 1100 students in grades 9-12. The head principal of the school is Terry Roden.

Shikellamy High School had a 82.54% graduation rate according to the district AYP report card 2005-2006. The graduation rate in 2006-2007 declined to 78.4%. ^{[1] [2]}

The district's policy is that if proficiency is not achieved on PSSAs, a retest will be administered during the senior year for deficient subject areas. Failure to achieve proficiency in the retest requires a passing grade on a final examination and a passing course grade for any and all deficient subject areas reported by the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment. The student must pass both the course and the final examination in order to graduate. If a student fails to show evidence of this proficiency, the student can achieve a Shikellamy diploma by passing a summer school course or by returning for an additional school year to achieve a passing grade.

The curriculum is currently under revision to align it with the 1999 Pennsylvania Academic Standards. These standards are assessed in the third through eighth and eleventh grades under the guise of the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment. These tests last several days and cover Reading, Writing, Speaking, Mathematics and Science.

Revision of the Shikellamy School District's mathematics curriculum, to bring it into compliance with Chapter 4 regulations of 2000, is to begin in fall 2007.^[3]

In 2007, Shikellamy School District was awarded two state grants to improve the education of their high school students. The administration announced the receipt of a three year Project 720 grant of $270,000. ^[4] Some of these dollars will be used to revise the graduation project to include a career component. The district was also awarded a $339,000 grant to infuse technology into the core curriculum of the high school.^[5] The Classrooms for the Future grant provides laptop computers for english, math, science and social studies classrooms.^[6] Additionally, the state will cover the salary of a part time teacher technology coach whose role is to assist the teachers in using the equipment and software effectively to improve their instruction.

Contents 1 PSSA Test Scores 2 Students Post Graduation 3 Dual enrollment 4 Facilities 5 Technology 6 Votech 7 Extracurriculars 8 External links 9 Notes and References

[edit] PSSA Test Scores

The high school is under Needs Improvement Level 1 designation from No Child Left Behind for the low Mathematics test scores for economically disadvantaged students. ^[7] In 2006-2007 the school moved into Improvement Level II due to low math and reading scores and a declining graduation rate. Multiple excuses for the results were offered by the district's superintendent.^[8]

Reading 11th grade - Percent Proficient or better
2003 - 61.0% State Avg. 59.2%
2004 - 64.7% State Avg. 60.8%
2005 - 59.2% State Avg. 65%
2006 - 62.0% State Avg 65%.
2007 - 57.9% State Avg. 65.4%

Mathematics 11th grade - Percent Proficient or better
2003 - 49.6% State Avg. 49.1%
2004 - 52.6% State Avg. 49.1%
2005 - 44.4% State Avg. 51%
2006 - 49.0% State Avg. 51%
2007 - 47.2% State Avg. 53.7%

Pennsylvania State Department of Education PSSA results data

In 2005 the high school was ranked 384th out of 606 public high schools in Pennsylvania. In 2006, SHS was ranked 384th out 607 Pennsylvania high schools.^[9]

In 2007, the Pittsburgh Business Times ranked the district 434th out of 499 Pennsylvania school districts based on three years of Pennsylvania System of Student Assessment test scores. ^[10]

SAT Reasoning Test 2005

Average Score 994, National Average - 1001
Verbal - 487, National Average - 497
Math - 508, National Average - 504
Students Tested - 130

In 2005, 29 students participated in two AP courses. For both English AP and History AP 48% scored 3 or better which could lead to college credits depending on the college's policies.^[11]

[edit] Students Post Graduation

In the 2006-2007 school year 64% of Shikellamy Students went on to receive Post-Secondary Edcational Training. This includes 47% of students that will attend a college with a four-year degree program.

[edit] Dual enrollment

Selected students may participate in a program that provides low cost or free college credits. The program is offered in association with Susquehanna University and Bloomsburg University. Courses are offered locally.

[edit] Facilities

The school recently added a new addition, extending into the old tennis courts. The addition allowed for a larger gym, cafeteria, and band room. They also made substantial investments in upgrading the school district's football facilities.

[edit] Technology

The District is connected to the Internet with 4 Mb of bandwidth, burstable to 10 Mb. We are connected from one building to the other with a fiber WAN. All buildings have a wired network. The secondary buildings also have a wireless network.

The High School is equipped with a SmartBoard in every department, and in most cases, in every room. There are also 4 mobile laptop carts of 30 laptops each that can be signed out for student use in the classroom. The library has 20 desktop computers for student use. There are 4 main instructional computer labs with 28 computers each, and many mini-labs for student use in the Art, Science, English, Music, and Social Studies departments. All secondary students have their own network accounts and space to store files.

PowerSchool Parent Portal is available to parents of students in the high school. This provides parents with online information about their child's attendance and grades. ^[12]

[edit] Votech

SUN Area Career & Technology Center is a regional vocational school, offering adult education classes, vocational education, and technical career training. SUN Tech serves over 1500 people annually. ISO9001 and Middle States Accredited. SUN Tech was presented with the Significant Achievement Award in Education for raising their Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Program criteria score to 648 points, a 345 point increase from 303 points in August, 2000.

[edit] Extracurriculars

Shikellamy High School offers many extracurricular activities to its students. It has many clubs, including: foreign language clubs, Future Scientists/Business Leaders of America, science clubs and community service clubs. The school is well known for its band, theatre and forensics programs. A JROTC program is offered.

Athletics

Students may participate in baseball, softball, basketball, wrestling, field hockey, football, soccer, track and field, cross-country and tennis teams. The district is a member of the Pennsylvania Heartland Athletic Conference for all athletics and participates under the rules and guidelines of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association.

[edit] External links

Shikellamy High School Web Site

School Matters - Standard and Poors School data regarding Shikellamy School District

Pennsylvania State Board Academic Standards Standards for many areas of the public education K-12 curriculum.

[edit] Notes and References