Woodland Hills Junior / Senior High School

In 2013, enrollment was reported as 1,244 pupils in 9th through 12th grades, with 69% of pupils eligible for the federal free or reduced-price lunch due to family poverty. Additionally, 16.6% of pupils received special education services, while 9.8% of pupils were identified as gifted.[5] According to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, 100% of the teachers were rated "Highly Qualified" under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. The school is a Title I school.

Students may attend Forbes Road CTC for training in the trades. The Allegheny Intermediate Unit IU3 provides the school with a wide variety of services like specialized education for disabled students and hearing, speech and visual disability services and professional development for staff and faculty.

In 2013, Woodland Hills Junior / Senior High School District's graduation rate was 81.5%.[6] In 2010, the Pennsylvania Department of Education issued a new, 4-year cohort graduation rate. Woodland Hills High School's rate was 81.3% for 2010.[7]

• 2012 - 81%[8]
• 2011 - 77.8%

According to traditional graduation rate calculations

• 2010 - 78% [9]
• 2009 – 83%
• 2008 – 80% [10]
• 2007 – 80% [11]

Woodland Hills was ranked 97th out of 124 western Pennsylvania school districts in 2013 by the Pittsburgh Business Times. The ranking was based on the previous three years of student academic performance on the PSSAs on mathematics, reading, writing and science.[12]

In 2012, the school was in Making Progress: in Corrective Action II fifth year Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) status. In 2011, it was in Corrective Action II 5th Year AYP status.[13]

2013 School Performance Profile

Woodland Hills Junior / Senior High School achieved 69 out of 100. Reflects on grade level reading, mathematics and science achievement. In reading/literature - 70% were on grade level. In Algebra 1, only 57% showed on grade level skills. In Biology, just 31% showed on grade level science understanding.[14] According to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, 2,181 public schools (less than 73 percent of Pennsylvania public schools), achieved an academic score of 70 or higher. Pennsylvania 11th grade students no longer take the PSSAs. Instead, they now take the Keystone Exams at the end of the associated course.[15]

PSSAs

Pennsylvania System of School Assessments (PSSA) are No Child Left Behind Act related examinations which were administered from 2003 through 2012. The exams were administered in the Spring of each school year. In 2013, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania changed its high school assessments to the Keystone Exams in Algebra 1, Reading/literature and Biology1. The exams are given at the end of the course, rather than all in the spring of the student's 11th grade year.[16]

11th grade reading:

• 2012 - 65% on grade level, (15% below basic). State - 67% of 11th graders are on grade level.[17]
• 2011 - 56% (20% below basic). State - 69.1%[18]
• 2010 - 59% (19% below basic). State - 66% [19]
• 2009 - 59% (21% below basic). State - 65% [20]
• 2008 - 50% (29% below basic). State - 65% [21]
• 2007 - 51% (27% below basic). State - 65% [22]

11th grade mathematics:

• 2012 - 51% on grade level (25% below basic). In Pennsylvania, 59% of 11th graders are on grade level.[23]
• 2011 - 40% (34% below basic). State - 60.3% [24]
• 2010 - 46% (34% below basic). State - 59% [25]
• 2009 - 46% (33% below basic). State - 56% [26]
• 2008 - 33% (44% below basic). State - 56% [27]
• 2007 - 35% (41% below basic). State - 53% [28]

11th grade science:

• 2012 - 17% on grade level (32% below basic). State - 42% of 11th graders were on grade level.[29]
• 2011 - 16% (41 below basic). State - 40%[30]
• 2010 - 26% (30% below basic). State - 39%
• 2009 - 23% (34% below basic). State - 40% [31]
• 2008 - 16% (40% below basic). State - 39% [32]
• 2007 - tested. results withheld by PDE.

For the 2011–12 school year, Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) ranked Woodland Hills High School 449th out of the 676 public high schools in Pennsylvania. The ranking was based solely on the combined math and reading PSSA test scores from that high school.[33]

According to a Pennsylvania Department of Education study released in January 2009, 50% of the Woodland Hills High School graduates required remediation in mathematics and or reading before they were prepared to take college level courses in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education or community colleges.[34] Less than 66% of Pennsylvania high school graduates, who enroll in a four-year college in Pennsylvania, will earn a bachelor's degree within six years. Among Pennsylvania high school graduates pursuing an associate degree, only one in three graduate in three years.[35] Per the Pennsylvania Department of Education, one in three recent high school graduates who attend Pennsylvania's public universities and community colleges takes at least one remedial course in math, reading or English.

In 2013, the district's Verbal Average Score was 446. The mathematics average score was 447. The writing average score was 424. The College Board reported that statewide scores were 494 in reading, 504 in mathematics and 482 in writing. The nationwide SAT results were the same as in 2012.[36]

The Pennsylvania Department of Education compared the SAT data of students in rural areas of Pennsylvania to students in urban areas. From 2003 to 2005, the average total SAT score for students in rural Pennsylvania was 992, while urban students averaged 1,006. During the same period, 28 percent of 11th and 12th graders in rural school districts took the exam, compared to 32 percent of urban students in the same grades. The average math and verbal scores were 495 and 497, respectively, for rural students, while urban test-takers averaged 499 and 507, respectively. Pennsylvania's SAT composite score ranked low on the national scale in 2004. The composite SAT score of 1,003 left Pennsylvania ranking 44 out of the 50 states and Washington, DC.[37]

In 2013, Woodland Hills Junior / Senior High School offered 12 Advanced Placement (AP) courses at a higher cost than regular courses.

The school's athletic teams are part of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) and the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL).

• churchillareahighschool.com
• District website