Tyrone schools steering students in a positive direction
District putting emphasis on being part of a community
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TYRONE -- The Tyrone Area School District is moving in a positive direction, according to Superintendent Leslie Estep, as the district has increased its security measures, adopted a new motto to increase students' and staff members' sense of belonging and has seen an increase in the number of students participating in extracurricular activities.
At the start of the 2021-22 school year, a group of high school students approached administrators with the idea of starting a club fair because they noticed a dwindling number of students taking part in extracurricular activities, Estep said.
Although the district didn't host the fair at the start of the 2024-25 school year, Estep said it encouraged more students to become involved in activities during previous years and improved student engagement -- a challenge facing nearly every school district, she said.
"We've identified, and it's not a secret, that when students are involved in extracurricular activities, their mental health is better, their attendance is better," Estep said.
Students in the district's Future Farmers of America club are winning national awards for their community service efforts, she said, adding the Eagle Eye News, the high school's student-run newspaper, has also received praise from community members and outside organizations.
Estep said the newspaper's website was recognized as a distinguished site by the best of school newspapers online, which showcases the best student journalism from members of its network. Eagle Eye reporters also won student Keystone Media Awards last year, Estep said.
"That has grown and people turn to (the Eagle Eye News) to find out what's going on in the school. That's definitely a highlight of our district for sure," Estep said of the paper.
One new athletic opportunity that has taken off this year is the district's unified bocce ball team, she said.
"We have some students with disabilities and students without disabilities on the team and that has been a huge success," Estep said, noting the team has about a dozen players and two coaches who "do a nice job."
'We're a community'
Estep said Tyrone Area has a districtwide focus on connection and belonging this year and adopted the motto "Every Eagle, every day" to improve the social and emotional health of its students and staff.
T-shirts with the motto were made over the summer and distributed to teachers and staff on their first day back, she said, adding they're encouraged to wear the shirts during dress-down days.
"It's funny how you wouldn't think something small like that makes a difference, but it does," Estep said, emphasizing the motto isn't limited to students. "It's everybody here in our district. We're a community and we need to act in that manner."
Estep said the district held its distinguished alumni recognition this year and honored five alumni, who visited high school students to tell them they don't have to be from a major city or have every opportunity in the world to succeed.
Members of the Tyrone Area business community also mingled with high school students at the school's career exposition fair, which was held in October for the first time in five years.
The career fair was sponsored by the Tyrone-Snyder Public Library, the Tyrone Area Chamber of Commerce and various local businesses, according to Rose Black, the chamber's executive director and the district's school board president.
The event was a success and "reached a lot of kids," Black said, noting the chamber wanted to bring in local business people the students could relate to and hear their success stories.
Some of the speakers included Kris Laird, InspectionGo's sales enablement director who is also a Tyrone Area school board member; Steve McKnight, Altoona Blair County Development Corp.'s president and CEO; and Joe Harford, founder and president of Reclamere, a data security company in Tyrone.
"The speakers we had helped them decide whether they want to attend a college or a tech school or maybe even just open up a business in town. We tried to direct them that way and give them a little bit of guidance," she said.
Black said the event will likely return next year and could be expanded to include inviting students from outside districts like Bellwood-Antis.
Safety measures a priority
Tyrone Area implemented several physical safety measures this year after state police officers completed a risk assessment of the district last year, Estep said.
Among the changes include a new security vestibule installed at the elementary school's entrance and metal detectors that are used at the middle school and high school entrances for safety purposes, she said.
"We never want parents and visitors to think they're not welcome. But at the same time, we need to limit the people within the building," Estep said of the vestibule.
Inside the vestibule, people can use a phone to contact the office personnel and state their business, Estep said, adding similar protocols were already in place at the middle school and high school buildings, where students now pass through metal detectors as they enter the buildings.
For now, Estep said the metal detectors are used on "a regular basis." But eventually, they will be used daily, she said.
According to Estep, the security measures implemented have been generally well received by parents and members of the community.
"People understand why we need to do it, and they'd rather have that little bit of an inconvenience if it's a safety feature than not," she said.
District eyes student progress
Estep said Tyrone Area is "in a solid financial position," but school officials are concerned about the district's declining enrollment because 67% of the district's budget is based on state funding, which is based on enrollment, she said.
"For a district like ours, that will have an impact. That has an impact on our bottom line," Estep said.
In terms of academic performance, Estep said Tyrone Area has closed a lot of the gaps made by students struggling after the COVID-19 pandemic.
The district's fifth grade cohort were in kindergarten when the district was forced to shut down in spring 2020, Estep said, noting school officials continue to monitor that class's performance each year.
Students in other grade levels at the time were at a more advanced stage of learning and weren't as affected by the pandemic, she said.
At the elementary school, 56.1% of students placed proficient or advanced in English language arts, 2.2% above state average; 45.1% placed proficient or advanced in math, 4.9% above state average; and 86.1% placed proficient or advanced in science, 26.9% above state average.
According to Kristin Musselman, the school's principal, there's still work to do because the Pennsylvania Value Added Assessment System, which measures student growth based on the state's projections of how each student should perform on exams, indicates the school is below standard in English language arts and math.
In order to meet the state's growth standard, schools have to score at least 70 points on a 100-point scale. The scale is not a percentage and is only reflective of the students' growth -- or lack thereof -- on the exams, said Kristen Pinter, the district's curriculum director.
In English language arts and math, Tyrone Area Elementary School received a score of 50, falling 20 points short of the state's growth standard. The school met the state's growth standard in science with a score of 70.
Musselman said the school is currently piloting new math programs for the next school year after teachers expressed concerns about the school's current program, Go Math.
"Our students aren't really doing well with the program, so that's a red flag," Musselman said, adding the district hasn't decided on any new programs yet.
Although a new program won't fix the problem, it will give teachers the starting point they need to help students succeed, she said.
At the middle school, 50.6% of students placed proficient or advanced in English language arts, 3.3% below state average; 37% placed proficient or advanced in math, 3.2% below state average; and 65.3% placed proficient or advanced in science, 6.1% above state average.
Academic growth at the middle school is "a big emphasis for us," said principal Shane Cowher.
Although the school did not meet the state's standard of growth for English language arts, for which it scored 50 points, it did exceed the state's standards for math and science.
The middle school earned a growth score of 93.6 in math and 92 in science, indicating that most students met or exceeded a year's worth of growth over the last year.
At the high school, 71.9% of students placed proficient or advanced in English language arts, 18% above state average; 45.2% placed proficient or advanced in math, 5% above state average; and 78.1% placed proficient or advanced in science, 18.9% above state average.
Similar to the middle school, the high school did not meet the state's standard growth score in English language arts, receiving a growth score of 54. However, in both math and science, the school exceeds the academic growth score with a score of 100 in both disciplines.
Principal Chad Packer said one area of concern for the school is its attendance rate.
During the 2022-23 school year, 20.1% of high school students were habitually absent, meaning they missed more than 10 days of school. The state's data runs two school years behind the current year for reporting purposes, Pinter said.
In order to meet the state's performance standard, 94.1% of students in each school have to have fewer than 10 absences, she said.
Although 20.1% is an alarming statistic, Packer said student attendance in school has improved since the 2021-22 school year, when 41.1% of students were habitually absent.
"Even though we saw a big jump, we continue to strive for that statewide average," Packer said.
Estep said the district has had its ups and downs with state assessment scores over the years. She stressed the scores are only one aspect of student achievement.
At the middle school and high school, after school tutoring and academic support is available for students who are struggling at a less formal level, Estep said, noting the high school also has a peer tutoring program for students.
"I think, generally speaking, we're in a good state," Estep said. "We have lots of things that we would like to do, lots of plans that we would like to elaborate as the year goes on. So, I think we're moving in the right direction."
Mirror Staff Writer Matt Churella is at 814-946-7520.