This graphic shows some of the Tyrone Area High School’s scores for the 2024-25 assessments, which can be found at futurereadypa.org.

Editor’s note: The following, focused on the Tyrone Area School District, is the sixth installment of the series looking into how Blair County schools fared on the state assessment tests. The data for all Pennsylvania schools can be found at futurereadypa.org.

TYRONE — Teachers and administrators at the Tyrone Area School District are seeing a mix of promising gains and persistent challenges in students’ most recent state assessment results, Superintendent Leslie Estep said.

According to Estep, not all trends move in the same direction across grade levels or content areas. That makes it difficult to draw broad conclusions about any single strategy, she said.

“For instance, our third grade (English language arts) scores had shown steady improvement over the past few years but dipped in 2025, while eighth grade math saw a nice positive increase,” Estep said.

According to the state’s Future Ready Index, Tyrone Area’s district enrollment is 1,676 students, of which 0.4% are gifted students; 54.8% are economically disadvantaged; 2.4% are homeless; and 16.8% are special education students.

Tyrone Area Elementary

At the elementary school, 44.7% of students placed proficient or advanced in English language arts, 5.2% below state average; and 44.2% were proficient or advanced in math, 2.5% above state average.

The Future Ready Index shows a “waiver participation” for science and biology assessments, which means student participation was tracked but scores were not publicly released.

Even though the school’s scores are near the state average or just slightly above, teachers and students are working hard every day to learn and grow, Principal Kristin Musselman said, noting teachers adopted a new version of Go Math at the end of the 2024-25 school year.

“We’ve put a lot of time and effort into aligning what we’re teaching to the state standards, making sure that our resource — the Go Math product — is helping us to meet those standards for our students,” Musselman said. “We’re incredibly proud of our teachers and kids.”

This year, Musselman said teachers also adopted IXL, a computer-based math program to help students learn and practice their skills.

Musselman said teachers are working together to ensure there are no vertical gaps in curriculum as students transition from one grade level to the next.

“We are doing a lot of teacher talking this year on things we can do all the way from preschool through fourth grade to help improve both ELA and math scores,” Musselman said.

“We all know scores don’t change overnight,” she said. “Our teachers are really good at what they do. So, I believe in them that if they keep doing what they’re doing, we will see growth; and growth comes slowly — we know that.”

Tyrone Area Middle School

At the middle school, Keystone Exam results were particularly strong in algebra and officials continue to see a high percentage of students scoring at the advanced level in biology, Estep said.

According to the Future Ready Index, 44.7% of students were proficient or advanced in English language arts, 5.2% below state average; and 35.8% were proficient or advanced in math, 5.9% below state average.

Middle school students had an academic growth score of 52 in English language arts and 82 in math, exceeding the statewide growth standard in math by 12 points, according to state data.

Tyrone Area High School

At the high school, 60.5% of students placed proficient or advanced in English language arts, 10.6% above state average; and 53.1% were proficient or advanced in math, 11.4% above the state average.

High school students had an academic growth score of 83 in English language arts and 79 in math, exceeding the statewide growth standard by 13 points in literature and nine points in algebra, according to state data.

Darin Ricciotti, who’s in his first year as the high school’s principal, said one reason for the students’ success lies within teachers’ ability to hold themselves — and each other — accountable with the same type of rigor and expectations they have for their students across the board.

“One of the things I’ve noticed while being here is that the entire team within the school is very supportive of each other and doing their job to help the students,” Ricciotti said.

“Our teachers want our students to do well, not just on a test, but as a well-rounded student. It doesn’t matter what the course is, they hold them to a high expectation,” he said.

Estep said officials are proud of the progress students have made throughout the district.

“We are fortunate to have dedicated teachers and staff who work every day to support students academically, socially, and emotionally,” Estep said, noting student engagement has been a key area of focus in recent years.

“As schools take on an increasing number of responsibilities to support families, we remain committed to ensuring that students’ basic needs are met and that we are providing a safe, supportive environment where academic learning can continue to be a focus,” Estep said.

Mirror Staff Writer Matt Churella is at 814-946-7520.