Ferndale Area JSHS
Johnstown · PA · Ferndale Area SD · Public · K-12 combined
Similar nearby schools
Most similar nearby schools
Greater Johnstown SHS → Bishop Mc Cort Catholic High School → Johnstown Christian School → Westmont Hilltop JSHS → Richland HS → Conemaugh Twp Area MS/SHS → Greater Johnstown Career and Technology Center → Conemaugh Valley JSHS →📋 At a glance
- ✅ Dual-enrollment program (college credit while in HS)
- ✅ Gifted & talented program
- 🔢 1 calculus classes · 4 chemistry
- 🎓 AP rigor: Bottom 37% of US high schools
- 🎓 4-yr grad rate: 95% (75th percentile nationally)
Composed from federal CRDC offerings, EDFacts ACGR, and other public data. Full breakdowns below.
How Ferndale Area JSHS compares for families
Solid mid-tier academic profile.
- ▸ LocallyPA students outperform the US average on NAEP 8th-grade math (+4 points).
- ▸ vs Similar SchoolsThe closest comparables nearby: Greater Johnstown SHS, Bishop Mc Cort Catholic High School, Johnstown Christian School and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.
For Parents
Follow Ferndale Area JSHS
Get an email when Ferndale Area JSHS's numbers change — new admissions results, enrollment shifts, test scores. A few updates a year, no spam.
🎓 Academic rigor
AP + advanced-course offerings
Moderate — some AP / advanced course access
Bottom 37% of US high schools
✅ Gifted/talented program
Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2020-21). CRDC reports what's offered + enrolled — it doesn't collect AP exam pass rates (College Board owns that data and doesn't release it school-level).
SAT / ACT participation
CRDC federal data · 2020-21Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2020-21). Volume — not score — is what's reported here. A higher count means more students at this school are entering the college admissions pipeline. Note: 2020-21 was COVID-disrupted; some districts (especially those that stayed remote longer) report unusually low or zero takers.
🎓 4-year graduation rate · federal EDFacts
What % of students graduate on time?
75th percentile nationally
Source: federal EDFacts ACGR (Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate), 2019 vintage via Urban Institute. EDFacts publishes a range (low-high) to preserve privacy on small cohorts; we display the midpoint.
👩🏫 Teacher workforce · federal CRDC
Teacher experience & reliability
Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2017-18 — the most recent vintage that publishes per-school teacher quality fields; the 2020-21 sweep had them suppressed). "Inexperienced" = teachers in their first or second year. "Chronic absence" = teachers absent 10+ days/year.
Chronic absenteeism
Why this matters to enrollment: Chronic absence is the strongest early indicator of dropout, transfer-out, and family disengagement. A school's absenteeism trend forecasts its enrollment trend 1-3 years out. For school leaders: an Enrollment Trend Audit traces this dynamic forward →
Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020–2021. Rate = students chronically absent ÷ 2024 total enrollment.
Counselor capacity
Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020-2021. Counselor ratio = the school's most recent total enrollment ÷ counselor FTE. The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) recommends a 250:1 maximum; the US national median across schools with on-staff counselors is roughly 430:1.
Enrollment trend & projection
Total enrollment + grade 12, NCES Common Core of Data (2021–2024).
If the recent trend holds…
At its recent rate of +2.7%/year, projecting from 2024's 284 students:
An extrapolation of the recent trajectory, not a forecast of the school's plans; ignores one-off shocks.
Revenue upside
At $22,368 per student in district revenue, the 41 students projected to be gained by 2029 represent ≈ $917,088/year in additional funding.
District total revenue ÷ enrollment, NCES F-33. Public funding largely follows enrollment, so a shrinking class is a recurring budget hit.
Nearby high schools — the local competition
The closest high schools families here also consider, and where their enrollment is heading.
| School | Type | Miles | HS enrollment | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greater Johnstown SHS Johnstown |
Public | 1.2 | 712 | -9.0% |
| Bishop Mc Cort Catholic High School Johnstown |
Private | 1.2 | 361 | -17.2% |
| Johnstown Christian School Hollsopple |
Private | 3.2 | 186 | -6.5% |
| Westmont Hilltop JSHS Johnstown |
Public | 3.9 | 473 | -6.5% |
| Richland HS Johnstown |
Public | 4.2 | 474 | +0.9% |
| Conemaugh Twp Area MS/SHS Davidsville |
Public | 4.3 | 290 | -5.5% |
| Greater Johnstown Career and Technology Center Johnstown |
Public | 4.6 | 14 | — |
| Conemaugh Valley JSHS Johnstown |
Public | 5.3 | 198 | +0.5% |