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Penn Cambria School District |
Mission
The Penn Cambria School District will prepare productive citizens in a safe and positive environment that promotes excellence in academics, career skills, the arts, and athletics.
Shared Values
The Penn Cambria School District collectively values:
- The principle that all students can learn in a healthy and safe environment
- A commitment to honesty, integrity, respect, and diversity
- The educational support of family and community
- Effective teaching of a rigorous and relevant curriculum
- Professional development
- Quality leadership that will foster a culture of teaching and learning
- The use of technology to enhance teaching and learning
- Accountability for all
- A continuous learning ethic
- Artful use of infrastructure that requires the strategic alignment and utilization of faculty, staff , facilities , time, technology, and fiscal resources
Demographic Information
Penn Cambria School District serves a rural area encompassing 108 square miles along the ridges of east central Cambria County. The district is conveniently located 15 miles west of Altoona, with immediate access to the Route 22, 219 and I-99 corridors. The resident population of 15,228 reside within our 13 municipalities and boroughs, and nine unincorporated villages (Source: NCES – March 2022). 41% of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals through the school lunch program and March 2022 NCES data shows 12.2% of families in the district live below the federal poverty level.
Penn Cambria School District is part of the Southern Alleghenies workforce investment area. Cambria County currently has a 6.3% unemployment rate (Source: PA Workforce Statistics December 2021).
Community resources within the district boundaries include limited public transportation provided by CamTran of Cambria County. Faith-based organizations such as the Dorothy Day Center and St. Vincent DePaul Society provide assistance for families in need. There are also general practice physicians, day care and pre-school providers, three public libraries, a senior center, and volunteer fire services.
Current student enrollment is 1585, and enrollment is projected to decline slightly in the future. The district employs 146 professional staff, inclusive of instructional specialists, administrators, and itinerant staff. Approximately 56% of teachers have earned Master’s Degrees (Source: PIMS Staff data October 2021) Our five buildings are organized into a Pre-Primary School for our Pre-K and Kindergarten programs, a Primary School for grades 1 and 2, an Intermediate School for grades 3 and 4, a Middle School for grades 5 through 8, and a High School for grades 9 through 12. Each building contains a library media center as well as the technology infrastructure and computer facilities to supplement the curriculum, instruction, and assessment needs of faculty and students.
The Penn Cambria School District has a cohort graduation rate of 91.7% (Source: 2022 Future Ready PA Index).
Our high school students are encouraged to challenge themselves with weighted honors level classes and 12 Dual Enrollment classes throughout the high school experience. The industrious student can graduate with 18 or more college credits on their transcript. 36% of our students attend half-day programming at Admiral Peary Area Vocational-Technical School where they can take advantage of opportunities to prepare for industry certification in technical and/or trade skills leading to employment or further education through trade school after graduation. All students are strongly encouraged to participate in extra-curricular activities through athletics, the arts, and community service groups throughout their High School careers.
Opportunities for higher education abound. Located within the boundaries of the school district are Mt. Aloysius College and St. Francis University. In addition, within one-hour travel time are Penn Highlands Community College, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, and Penn State University.