Ferndale Area JSHS
Johnstown · PA · Ferndale Area SD · Public · K-12 combined
Similar nearby schools
Most similar nearby schools
United JSHS → Westmont Hilltop JSHS → Richland HS → Northern Cambria HS → Shanksville-Stonycreek HS → River Valley HS → North Clarion Co JSHS → Propel CS-Braddock Hills →📋 At a glance
- ✅ Dual-enrollment program (college credit while in HS)
- ✅ Gifted & talented program
- 🔢 1 calculus classes · 4 chemistry
- 🎓 AP rigor: Bottom 37% of US high schools
- 🎓 4-yr grad rate: 95% (75th percentile nationally)
Composed from federal CRDC offerings, EDFacts graduation data, and other public data. Full breakdowns below.
How Ferndale Area JSHS compares for families
Solid mid-tier academic profile.
- ▸ LocallyPA students outperform the US average on NAEP 8th-grade math (+4 points).
- ▸ vs Similar SchoolsThe closest comparables nearby: United JSHS, Westmont Hilltop JSHS, Richland HS and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.
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Objective, government-grade data — no school pays us for placement.
🎓 Academic rigor
AP + advanced-course offerings
Moderate — some AP / advanced course access
Bottom 37% of US high schools
✅ Gifted/talented program
Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2020-21). CRDC reports what's offered + enrolled — it doesn't collect AP exam pass rates (College Board owns that data and doesn't release it school-level).
SAT / ACT participation
CRDC federal data · 2020-21Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2020-21). Volume — not score — is what's reported here. A higher count means more students at this school are entering the college admissions pipeline. Note: 2020-21 was COVID-disrupted; some districts (especially those that stayed remote longer) report unusually low or zero takers.
🎓 4-year graduation rate · federal EDFacts
What % of students graduate on time?
75th percentile nationally
Source: federal EDFacts ACGR (Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate), 2019 vintage via Urban Institute. EDFacts publishes a range (low-high) to preserve privacy on small cohorts; we display the midpoint.
👩🏫 Teacher workforce · federal CRDC
Teacher experience & reliability
Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2017-18 — the most recent vintage that publishes per-school teacher quality fields; the 2020-21 sweep had them suppressed). "Inexperienced" = teachers in their first or second year. "Chronic absence" = teachers absent 10+ days/year.
🏛️ Your state's public flagship
Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus
The in-state tuition gap is the flagship's biggest draw — most in-state families pay far less than the out-of-state sticker. Average net price after aid runs about $32,875/yr. Admission odds depend on your student's GPA and test scores, not which high school they attend.
Source: IPEDS admissions, tuition & enrollment + College Scorecard net price. Flagship = the state's primary public research university.
Chronic absenteeism
Why this matters to enrollment: Chronic absence is the strongest early indicator of dropout, transfer-out, and family disengagement. A school's absenteeism trend forecasts its enrollment trend 1-3 years out.
Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020–2021. Rate = students chronically absent ÷ 2024 total enrollment.
Counselor capacity
Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020-2021. Counselor ratio = the school's most recent total enrollment ÷ counselor FTE. The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) recommends a 250:1 maximum; the US national median across schools with on-staff counselors is roughly 430:1.
Enrollment trend & projection
Total enrollment + grade 12, NCES Common Core of Data (2021–2024).
If the recent trend holds…
At its recent rate of +2.5%/year, projecting from 2024's 284 students:
An extrapolation of the recent trajectory, not a forecast of the school's plans; ignores one-off shocks.
Revenue upside
At $22,368 per student in district revenue, the 37 students projected to be gained by 2029 represent ≈ $827,616/year in additional funding.
District total revenue ÷ enrollment, NCES F-33. Public funding largely follows enrollment, so a shrinking class is a recurring budget hit.
Most similar nearby high schools
The schools most like this one — same type, blended on distance and size — and where their enrollment is heading. These are the schools families here weigh against each other.
| School | Type | Miles | HS enrollment | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United JSHS Armagh |
Public | 14.1 | 267 | -12.7% |
| Westmont Hilltop JSHS Johnstown |
Public | 3.9 | 473 | -6.5% |
| Richland HS Johnstown |
Public | 4.2 | 474 | +0.9% |
| Northern Cambria HS Northern Cambria |
Public | 26.5 | 262 | -23.2% |
| Shanksville-Stonycreek HS Shanksville |
Public | 18.8 | 90 | +4.7% |
| River Valley HS Blairsville |
Public | 19.5 | 427 | +2.9% |
| North Clarion Co JSHS Tionesta |
Public | 79.9 | 195 | -2.0% |
| Propel CS-Braddock Hills Pittsburgh |
Public · charter | 50.1 | 216 | -27.3% |