Marple Newtown SHS

Newtown Square · PA · Marple Newtown SD · Public


📚AP rigor: 86th percentile nationally 📖21 AP courses 🎓96% 4-yr grad rate

🧭 A parent's read

  • 96% graduate on time. Nearly every student who starts 9th grade here finishes in four years — the strongest baseline signal a school can post.
  • Course rigor in the top 14% of US high schools. 21 AP courses plus advanced math and lab-science depth — measured against every high school in the country, not just the neighborhood.

Composed from this page's data — every claim is backed by a number in the sections below.

📋 At a glance

Programs & features
  • 📚 21 AP courses offered — Elite
  • ✅ Gifted & talented program
  • 🔢 3 calculus classes · 14 physics · 15 chemistry
Academic signals
  • 🎓 AP rigor: 86th percentile nationally
  • 📝 SAT/ACT participation: 82nd percentile by test-taker volume
  • 🎓 4-yr grad rate: 96% (82nd percentile nationally)

Composed from federal CRDC offerings, EDFacts graduation data, and other public data. Full breakdowns below.

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💡

How Marple Newtown SHS compares for families

Standout academic depth by national standards.

  • StatewideAP rigor in the top 14% nationally with 21 AP courses.
  • LocallyPA students outperform the US average on NAEP 8th-grade math (+4 points).
  • vs Similar SchoolsThe closest comparables nearby: Strath Haven HS, West Chester East HS, Interboro SHS and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.

For Parents

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Objective, government-grade data — no school pays us for placement.

🎓 Academic rigor

AP + advanced-course offerings

Elite — exceptional AP + advanced course breadth

86th percentile nationally

50th 90th ↑ this school
Less rigorMore rigorMost rigor
AP courses offered
21
Math ✓ · Science ✓
Students taking AP courses
308
≈24 per 100 students · uptake, not just offerings
Advanced math classes
19
3 calculus · 16 advanced
Lab science classes
29
14 physics · 15 chemistry
Other rigor signals
✅ 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 · 2020-21

82nd percentile by test-taker volume

50th 90th
SAT/ACT test-takers
263
11th-12th graders who took 1+ college admissions test
Test-taking intensity
20.8
takers per 100 students in grades 9-12
Compared against
18,426
US high schools reporting SAT/ACT participation

Source: 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?

82nd percentile nationally

50th 90th
4-year graduation rate
96%
Single-point estimate
4-year cohort size
274
Students in the 9th-grade entry class tracked over 4 years
Compared against
17,988
US high schools reporting 4-year ACGR

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

% inexperienced teachers (1st-2nd yr)
9.3%
Strong: experienced corps. New teachers rotate through but most have ≥3 years in.
% chronic teacher absence (≥10 days/yr)
38.4%
Elevated. Teacher absence directly affects classroom continuity and student outcomes.

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.

🏛️ Federal Title I context

Mixed-income school

Below Title I eligibility threshold (FRPL < 35%)

27.5%
FRPL rate — % of students who qualify for the federal Free or Reduced-Price Lunch program. This is the underlying federal income-eligibility signal Title I designations are computed from (ESEA Sec. 1113).
0% (no FRPL) 35% TA · 40% Schoolwide 100% (universal FRPL)

25-34% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch. Below the federal Title I threshold but a meaningful share of the population is income-eligible for free lunch.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data, free/reduced-price lunch eligibility. The actual Title I designation is a district decision and may differ from eligibility — but the federal eligibility math is what we show here. We don't claim to assert whether the district formally chose to enroll this school in Title I.

🏛️ Your state's public flagship

Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus

54%
admit rate
$20,644
in-state tuition/yr · $41,790 out-of-state
1220–1400
SAT 25–75 · ACT 27–32

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.

See the full Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus profile → Estimate your odds with your scores →

Source: IPEDS admissions, tuition & enrollment + College Scorecard net price. Flagship = the state's primary public research university.

Chronic absenteeism

Share of students absent 15+ days
8.5%
Below 10% — strong attendance culture. Chronic absence is a leading indicator of dropout and disengagement; a low rate signals families staying connected to the school.
Students absent 15+ days
108
Federal definition: absent (excused or unexcused) for at least 15 of ~180 school days — about 10% of the school year.

Why this matters to enrollment: A low chronic-absence rate is the cleanest school-level signal of strong family connection, classroom culture, and student engagement — all upstream drivers of enrollment stability.

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020–2021. Rate = students chronically absent ÷ 2024 total enrollment.

Counselor capacity

Student : Counselor
253:1
Above the ASCA 250:1 target but below the US median (~430:1). Capacity is workable.
Counselor FTE
5.0
Full-time-equivalent school counselors on staff.
Teacher FTE
91
Full-time-equivalent classroom teachers.

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

Grade 12 went from 296 in 2021 to 320 in 2024 — over 3 years.
+8.1%

Total enrollment + grade 12, NCES Common Core of Data (2021–2024).

If the recent trend holds…

At its recent rate of +3.2%/year, projecting from 2024's 1,266 students:

2025
1,307
2027
1,392
2029
1,483

An extrapolation of the recent trajectory, not a forecast of the school's plans; ignores one-off shocks.

Revenue upside

At $26,513 per student in district revenue, the 217 students projected to be gained by 2029 represent ≈ $5,753,321/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.

SchoolTypeMilesHS enrollmentTrend
Strath Haven HS
Wallingford
Public 5.9 1,175 -2.9%
West Chester East HS
West Chester
Public 9.5 1,216 -0.8%
Interboro SHS
Prospect Park
Public 7.3 1,079 +5.3%
Great Valley HS
Malvern
Public 11.0 1,481 +5.6%
Ridley HS
Folsom
Public 6.7 1,825 -1.5%
Upper Dublin HS
Fort Washington
Public 15.5 1,272 -3.6%
Cheltenham HS
Wyncote
Public 14.0 1,450 +5.0%
Downingtown HS East Campus
Exton
Public 15.2 1,708 +0.4%

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