Shikellamy High School

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. The assistant principal is Jeffery Angelo

Overview

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%. In 2008, the graduation rate rose to a lack luster 84%. [Shikellamy High School Academic Achievement Reports 2006-2007 from Pennsylvania Department of Education.] [ [http://www.schoolmatters.com/app/location/q/stid=39/llid=116/stllid=151/locid=953690/catid=-1/secid=-1/compid=771/site=pes Standard & Poors School Matters Report on Shikellamy School District] ]

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 [http://www.pde.state.pa.us/stateboard_ed/cwp/view.asp?a=3&Q=76716 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. [Scott, Rob, [http://www.dailyitem.com/archivesearch/local_story_166000103.html "District to spend $55,000 on textbooks"] The Daily Item, June 15, 2007.]

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. [Scott, Rob, "School District gets grant", The Daily Item, August 10, 2007.] 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. [Scott, Rob, "New Software enhances Core Subjects," The Daily Item, September 7, 2007.] The Classrooms for the Future grant provides laptop computers for english, math, science and social studies classrooms. [Race, Michael, "Classrooms for the Future Schools", Pennsylvania Department of Education, August 30, 2007.] 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.

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. [ [http://www.paayp.com/district.jsp?hiddenSelectCounty=Northumberland&selectDistrict=SHIKELLAMY%20SD 2005-2006 NCLB Report Card for Shikellamy School District] ] 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. [Gessel, Damian, "School fails tests again", The Daily Item, August 31, 2007.]

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%
2008 - 62.7% State Avg. 65%

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%
2008 - 51.3% State Avg. 56% [http://www.pdeinfo.state.pa.us/a_and_t/cwp/browse.asp?A=3 Pennsylvania State Department of Education PSSA results data]

In 2005 the high school was ranked [http://www.schooldigger.com/SelectState.aspx?Level=3&findschool=2274006280&from=schoolrank 384th out of 606 public high schools] in Pennsylvania. In 2006, SHS was ranked 384th out 607 Pennsylvania high schools. [ High School rankings based on 2006 PSSA Math and reading scores combined Schooldigger.com.]

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. [Blacklidge, Karen, "Valley schools all over the chart", The Daily Item, June 6, 2007 http://www.dailyitem.com/archivesearch/local_story_163000144.html]

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. [ Shikellamy Test scores, College Prep. Standard and Poors - School Matters, http://www.schoolmatters.com/app/data/q/stid=39/llid=116/stllid=151/locid=953690/catid=860/secid=3585/compid=771/site=pes]

tudents Post Graduation

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

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.

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.

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. [ [http://www.shikbraves.org/3043361127155425/site/default.asp Technology Shikellamy School District Website] ]

Votech

[http://www.sun-tech.org/ 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.

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 [http://www.dailyitem.com/archivesearch/local_story_139203100.html Pennsylvania Heartland Athletic Conference] for all athletics and participates under the rules and guidelines of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association.

External links

* [http://www.shikbraves.org/shikellamy/site/default.asp Shikellamy High School Web Site]

* [http://www.schoolmatters.com/app/location/q/stid=39/llid=118/stllid=153/locid=2429/stype=/catid=-1/secid=-1/compid=-1/site=pes School Matters - Standard and Poors School data regarding Shikellamy School District]

* [http://www.pde.state.pa.us/stateboard_ed/cwp/view.asp?Q=76716 Pennsylvania State Board Academic Standards] Standards for many areas of the public education K-12 curriculum.

Notes and References