- Downingtown Area School District
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Downingtown Area School District 
Downingtown DeliversType and location Type Public Grades K-12 Country United States Location 540 Trestle Place, Downingtown, PA 19335 District Info Superintendent Dr. Lawrence J. Mussoline, Ph.D. Schools 15 Students and staff Students About 14,000 Other information Website http://www.dasd.org/ 
Map of Chester County, Pennsylvania Public School Districts. Downingtown Area School District is in green in the central part of the county.
The Downingtown Area School District is a school district based in Downingtown, in Chester County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The district operates ten Elementary Schools, two Middle Schools and two High Schools, soon to be four. As of 2011, the district educates an average of 14,000 students.
Contents
Geography
The district, located in central Chester County serves all of the following municipalities:
- Downingtown Borough
- East Brandywine Twp.
- East Caln Twp.
- Upper Uwchlan Twp.
- Uwchlan Twp.
- Wallace Twp.
- West Bradford Twp.
- West Pikeland Twp.
Events of Significance
Security Breaches
On Friday, May 9, 2008, the district learned a 15 year old student at Downingtown West High School had copied personal information and Social Security numbers of school employees, students, and community members. The minor, whose name cannot be disclosed, allegedly shared this sensitive data with other students. Over 56,000 Social Security numbers and other personal information were retrieved from an unencrypted, unsecured file on a district server and copied to a flash drive. The student was apprehended by Downingtown Police on May 21, 2008 and was charged with: Theft by Unlawful Taking or Disposition (Misdemeanor), Computer Theft (Felony), Unlawful Duplication (Felony), and Computer Trespass (Felony).[1]
Less than 6 months prior to the 2008 breach, a 16 year old student used illegal hacking and password retrieval software to gain access to an encrypted file he had illegally downloaded. That student was arrested and charged with a felony.[2]
The Aftermath
The district's technology department requested a complete overhaul of the active directory file structures dealing with login, password security and folder access permissions. The district hired CommSolutions for aforementioned process and Canon Business Solutions to virtualize the district’s datacenter. This process allegedly increased the district’s ability to better manage and monitor the 70 plus district servers. An additional third party company, SunGard Corp., originally performed an information security penetration analysis and vulnerability scanning service. The same company then performed additional network analysis. The district also revamped the internet filtering software by replacing it with a more powerful filtering software program.[3]
Budget 2011-2012
The district released a statement saying that if the new PA school budget is approved, then the district will lose $3,728,942 from state funding. The statement also discusses the $4,600,000 deficit already in place. Read more at http://dasd-sharepoint.dasd.org/District/Departments/Finance/budget/Pages/default.aspx.
Schools within the Downingtown Area School District
Elementary schools
- Beaver Creek Elementary - Downingtown
- Bradford Heights Elementary School - West Bradford Twp.
- Brandywine Wallace Elementary School - East Brandywine Twp.
- East Ward Elementary School - Downingtown
- Lionville Elementary School - Uwchlan Twp.
- Pickering Valley Elementary School - Upper Uwchlan Twp.
- Shamona Creek Elementary School - Uwchlan Twp.
- Springton Manor Elementary School - Wallace Twp.
- Uwchlan Hills Elementary School - Uwchlan Twp.
- West Bradford Elementary School - West Bradford Twp.
Middle schools
- Downingtown Middle School - Downingtown
- Lionville Middle School - Uwchlan Twp.
High schools
- Downingtown High School - Downingtown High School is split into two campuses: Downingtown East (Uwchlan Twp.) and Downingtown West (Downingtown). While still legally considered to be one school, East and West are generally regarded as being separate entities.
- Downingtown STEM Academy (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) - A magnet high school opening Fall 2011.
- Downingtown Cyber Academy - A new online educational school for high school students, opening in August 2011.
References
External links
- Downingtown Area School District Official Website
- Downingtown Area School District - PA Dept of Education profile
- Downingtown Area School District - Great Schools profile
- Downingtown West High School
- Downingtown East High School
- Downingtown STEM Academy
- Downingtown Middle School
- Lionville Middle School
- Beaver Creek Elementary School
- Bradford Heights Elementary School
- Brandywine Wallace Elementary School
- East Ward Elementary School
- Lionville Elementary School
- Pickering Valley Elementary School
- Shamona Creek Elementary School
- Springton Manor Elementary School
- Uwchlan Hills Elementary School
- West Bradford Elementary School
Categories:- Downingtown Area School District
- School districts in Chester County, Pennsylvania
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