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Wilkes-Barre Area SD STEM Academy

Plains · PA · Wilkes-Barre Area SD · Public

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📋 At a glance

Programs & features
  • 📚 4 AP courses offered — Strong
  • 🔢 1 calculus classes · 1 physics · 3 chemistry
Academic signals
  • 🎓 AP rigor: 58th percentile nationally
  • 📝 SAT/ACT participation: Bottom 24% by test-taker volume
  • 🎓 4-yr grad rate: 75% (Bottom 21% of US high schools by 4-yr grad rate)

Composed from federal CRDC offerings, EDFacts ACGR, and other public data. Full breakdowns below.

💡

How Wilkes-Barre Area SD STEM Academy compares for families

Solid mid-tier academic profile.

  • StatewideAP rigor at the 58th percentile nationally with 4 AP courses.
  • LocallyPA students outperform the US average on NAEP 8th-grade math (+4 points).
  • vs Similar SchoolsThe closest comparables nearby: Wilkes-Barre Area HS, Genesis School, Graham Academy High School and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.
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🎓 Academic rigor

AP + advanced-course offerings

Strong — solid AP program + advanced courses

58th percentile nationally

50th 90th ↑ this school
Less rigorMore rigorMost rigor
AP courses offered
4
Math ✓ · Science ✓
Advanced math classes
2
1 calculus · 1 advanced
Lab science classes
4
1 physics · 3 chemistry
Other rigor signals
No dual-enrollment or gifted program reported

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 · 2020-21

Bottom 24% by test-taker volume

50th 90th
SAT/ACT test-takers
20
11th-12th graders who took 1+ college admissions test
Test-taking intensity
21.5
takers per 100 students in grades 9-12
Compared against
18,426
US high schools reporting SAT/ACT participation

Source: 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?

Bottom 21% of US high schools by 4-yr grad rate

50th 90th
4-year graduation rate
75%
Range: 50–100%
4-year cohort size
11
Students in the 9th-grade entry class tracked over 4 years
Compared against
17,988
US high schools reporting 4-year ACGR

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.

🏛️ Federal Title I context

High-poverty school

Title I Schoolwide eligible

90.3%
FRPL rate — % of students who qualify for the federal Free or Reduced-Price Lunch program. This is the underlying federal income-eligibility signal Title I designations are computed from (ESEA Sec. 1113).
0% (no FRPL) 35% TA · 40% Schoolwide 100% (universal FRPL)

≥75% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch. These schools qualify for the highest tier of federal Title I funding and typically receive extra wraparound services. Academic outcomes vary widely — check the state assessment + grad-rate tiles.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data, free/reduced-price lunch eligibility. The actual Title I designation is a district decision and may differ from eligibility — but the federal eligibility math is what we show here. We don't claim to assert whether the district formally chose to enroll this school in Title I.

Chronic absenteeism

Share of students absent 15+ days
2.2%
Below 10% — strong attendance culture. Chronic absence is a leading indicator of dropout and disengagement; a low rate signals families staying connected to the school.
Students absent 15+ days
2
Federal definition: absent (excused or unexcused) for at least 15 of ~180 school days — about 10% of the school year.

Why this matters to enrollment: A low chronic-absence rate is the cleanest school-level signal of strong family connection, classroom culture, and student engagement — all upstream drivers of enrollment stability. 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.

Enrollment trend & projection

Total enrollment + grade 12, NCES Common Core of Data (2021–2024).

If the recent trend holds…

At its recent rate of +5.6%/year, projecting from 2024's 93 students:

2025
98
2027
109
2029
122

An extrapolation of the recent trajectory, not a forecast of the school's plans; ignores one-off shocks.

Nearby high schools — the local competition

The closest high schools families here also consider, and where their enrollment is heading.

SchoolTypeMilesHS enrollmentTrend
Wilkes-Barre Area HS
Plains
Public 0.0 2,569 +17.0%
Genesis School
Kingston
Private 1.6 25
Graham Academy High School
Luzerne
Private 2.0 41
Wyoming Seminary Upper School
Kingston
Private 2.1 719
Bais Menachem Youth Development Prog
Wilkes Barre
Private 2.1 48
Holy Redeemer H.S.
Wilkes Barre
Private 2.2 464 -10.9%
New Story School
Wyoming
Private 2.4 62 -23.5%
West Side Career & Technology Center
Kingston
Public 2.4 437 +13.8%

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