Conestoga Valley School District
The Conestoga Valley School District is a school district covering East Lampeter Township, Upper Leacock Township and West Earl Township in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. It is a member of Lancaster-Lebanon Intermediate Unit (IU) 13. The district operates one High School, one Middle School and four Elementary Schools.
| Conestoga Valley School District | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | |
| 2110 Horseshoe Road Lancaster, Pennsylvania 17602 United States | |
| District information | |
| Type | Public school district |
| Motto | Character. Community. Commitment. |
| Grades | K-12 |
| Established | 1958[1] |
| Superintendent | Dave Zuilkoski[2] |
| Schools | Conestoga Valley High School Conestoga Valley Middle School Brownstown Elementary School, Fritz Elementary School, Leola Elementary School, Smoketown Elementary School |
| Budget | $55,814,667 |
| NCES District ID | 4206480 |
| Students and staff | |
| Students | 4354[3] |
| Teachers | 321 |
| Staff | 571 |
| Student–teacher ratio | Grades K-2 - 19:1 Grades 3-12 - 21:1 |
| Athletic conference | Lancaster-Lebanon League |
| District mascot | Buckskin |
| Colors | Red and blue |
| Other information | |
| State District ID | 113361703 |
| Website | www |
History
In 1958, East Lampeter Township, Upper Leacock Township, and West Earl township merged their school systems to form the Conestoga Valley School District. Its original high school was dedicated on present-day Smoketown Elementary School as East Lampeter High School. Sometime after 1970, the high school was moved to another location along Horseshoe Road, renamed Conestoga Valley High School, and built completely new while the old building was dedicated as Smoketown Elementary School.[1]
Penn Johns Elementary School
Located in Bird In Hand, Penn Johns Elementary School was the previous fifth elementary school of Conestoga Valley. It was the last remaining school for the Plain community that over time lost its original purpose and transitioned into a regular elementary school that served all local residents. It was established around 1953 as an Amish and Old Order Mennonite school, but the Amish community no longer attended the school. In 2007, the Conestoga Valley school board voted to close the school for good, citing new teacher certification requirements, operating costs, and new curriculum requirements. The school served around 35 students at the time of closing taught by only two teachers, one for grades 1-4 and one for grades 5-8. The 35 students then matriculated into the four remaining elementary schools.[4]
Recent developments
For the 2009-2010 school year and beyond, the school board voted to change the school hours of all schools in the district. In previous years, elementary school hours went from 8:20 a.m. to 2:25 p.m. and middle and high school hours went from 7:50 a.m to 3:10 p.m. These hours were changed to 8:50 a.m. to 3:25 p.m. for the elementary schools, 7:35 a.m. to 2:40 p.m. for the middle school, and 7:35 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. for the high school.[5]
For the 2012-2013 school year, Conestoga Valley received a $985,891 state grant to establish two pre-kindergarten classes, expand full-day kindergarten to more students, and added teachers to its ESL program. The grant was part of Pennsylvania's "Keystones to Opportunity" initiative that distributed $36 million to school districts in the state.[6]
Academics
Conestoga Valley School District has been named one of the "Best Communities for Music Education" multiple times by the NAMM Foundation.[7] A survey is made available every year for school districts to fill out, of which schools are selected based on several criteria, including funding, music class participation, instruction time, and facilities. Conestoga Valley has achieved this recognition six times, which required the district to score in the 80th percentile or higher out of all of the other applicants.[8]
Comparison to other Lancaster County school districts
| 2016 SAT: average scores Lancaster County schools | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| School district | Reading | Math | Writing | Total |
| Cocalico | 514 | 524 | 495 | 1534 |
| Columbia Borough | 460 | 448 | 427 | 1335 |
| Conestoga Valley | 515 | 511 | 479 | 1505 |
| Donegal | 515 | 508 | 492 | 1515 |
| Eastern Lancaster County | 526 | 524 | 493 | 1544 |
| Elizabethtown Area | 529 | 532 | 495 | 1556 |
| Ephrata Area | 525 | 526 | 496 | 1546 |
| Hempfield | 535 | 556 | 505 | 1595 |
| Lampeter-Strasburg | 524 | 533 | 511 | 1567 |
| Lancaster | 425 | 436 | 407 | 1268 |
| Manheim Central | 507 | 510 | 483 | 1501 |
| Manheim Township | 539 | 553 | 515 | 1608 |
| Penn Manor | 516 | 523 | 483 | 1521 |
| Pequea Valley | 531 | 526 | 492 | 1549 |
| Solanco | 509 | 512 | 471 | 1492 |
| Warwick | 537 | 539 | 507 | 1584 |
| County average | 513 | 516 | 484 | 1514 |
| Pennsylvania average | 481 | 485 | 458 | 1424 |
| U.S. average | 494 | 508 | 482 | 1484 |
| Each test section is out of a score of 800 points. | ||||
| Source: Public School SAT Scores, PA Department of Education | ||||
| U.S. Average Source: 2016 SAT Report, CollegeBoard | ||||
| Pennsylvania System of School Assessment 2016-2017 Average PSSA exam scores for Lancaster County schools | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| School district | Elementary Reading | Elementary Math | Elementary Science | Intermediate Math | Intermediate Reading | Intermediate Science |
| Cocalico | 78% | 53% | 91% | 74% | 38% | 62% |
| Columbia Borough | 50% | 35% | 80% | 41% | 15% | 29% |
| Conestoga Valley | 72% | 52% | 81% | 71% | 46% | 60% |
| Donegal | 69% | 51% | 79% | 60% | 41% | 66% |
| Eastern Lancaster County | 67% | 49% | 87% | 69% | 49% | 60% |
| Elizabethtown Area | 72% | 62% | 86% | 66% | 48% | 63% |
| Ephrata Area | 73% | 60% | 85% | 61% | 46% | 51% |
| Hempfield | 76% | 62% | 88% | 73% | 48% | 70% |
| Lampeter-Strasburg | 82% | 67% | 86% | 74% | 56% | 61% |
| Lancaster | 55% | 44% | 70% | 36% | 16% | 31% |
| Manheim Central | 73% | 57% | 88% | 63% | 51% | 72% |
| Manheim Township | 83% | 75% | 91% | 79% | 57% | 71% |
| Penn Manor | 73% | 65% | 86% | 68% | 46% | 64% |
| Pequea Valley | 71% | 57% | 89% | 57% | 27% | 50% |
| Solanco | 57% | 50% | 86% | 62% | 35% | 56% |
| Warwick | 74% | 44% | 82% | 73% | 44% | 71% |
| Source: | ||||||
Demographical snapshot
Source: School Newsletter (January 2014)[3]
| Asian students | 222 |
| Hispanic students | 675 |
| Black students | 309 |
| White (non-Hispanic) students | 2987 |
| Other (including multi-racial) | 161 |
Schools
- Conestoga Valley Senior High School (9th-12th), Lancaster
- Conestoga Valley Middle School (7th-8th), Lancaster
- Brownstown Elementary School (K-6th), Brownstown
- J. E. Fritz Elementary School (K-6th), Lancaster
- Leola Elementary School (K-6th), Leola
- Smoketown Elementary School (K-6th), Lancaster
Notable alumni
- Kim Glass is an American indoor volleyball player who joined the U.S. national team in the Olympics and won a silver medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.[9]
- Jonathan Groff is a singer and stage, television, and film actor who worked in the musical Spring Awakening, voiced Kristoff in the Disney movie Frozen, and starred in television series Glee and Looking.[10]
- Floyd Landis is a professional cyclist who won several events including the Tour of California in 2006, and the Tour de France in 2006 of which he was convicted of a doping case.[11]
- Kevin Shaffer is an American football offensive tackle who played for the Atlanta Falcons, Cleveland Browns, and Chicago Bears.[12]
- Ryan G. Manelick was an American defense contractor who worked in Baghdad, Iraq.[13]
References
- "East Lampeter Township History" (PDF). Conestoga Valley Chapter of the Lancaster County Bicentennial Committee.
- "Superintendent's Corner". Conestoga Valley School District.
- "School Newsletter". January 2014. Archived from the original on 2015-09-23. Retrieved 2014-02-26.
- "Penn Johns supporters make plea to keep school open". Lancaster Online. Archived from the original on 2013-04-11.
- "Conestoga Valley considers new school hours". Lancaster Online. Archived from the original on 2013-04-11.
- "CV schools awarded $1 million grant". My Conestoga Valley News. Archived from the original on 2013-04-11.
- "Not in NAMM only". Lancaster Online. Archived from the original on 2013-04-11.
- "NAMM Foundation Survey Reveals 'Best Communities for Music Education' In the United States". National Association of Music Merchants.
- "Kim Glass Profile". University of Arizona. Archived from the original on 2012-09-06.
- "Jonathan Groff Biography". Jonathangroff.org. Archived from the original on 2013-04-15.
- "Floyd Landis". Topend Sports Network.
- "Kevin Shaffer". NFL.
- "Ryan Manelick". The Observer.