Indiana Area School District


Indiana Area School District is a public school district in Indiana County, Pennsylvania. It is composed of White Township and Armstrong Township, along with Indiana and Shelocta boroughs.

Elementary schools

The IASD has four elementary schools. Two serve for grades K-3, and two serving for grades 4–5, and each serving a different part of the district. Ben Franklin Elementary and Dwight D. Eisenhower Elementary school serve Shelocta, Armstrong Township, west-central White Township, mostly the northwest corner of White Township, but also a small strip of western and southwestern White Township and the western third of Indiana Borough. East Pike Elementary School and Horace Mann Elementary School serve the eastern third of White Township, the northeastern corner of Indiana Borough, southern Indiana Borough and south-central and most of southwestern White Township.

Secondary schools

IASD has two secondary schools. Indiana Area Junior High School contains grades 6–8, and Indiana Area Senior High School contains grades 9-12.

Demographics

Approximately 32,000 people live in the IASD, and 3,000 students enroll in the district. The average graduation rate is 92%, and the average graduating class contains 250 students. Approximately 76% of all graduates enroll in some sort of post-secondary education. As of 2005, district employs 257 staff members, 202 of whom have their master's degree or above. On average, each staff member has 17 years of experience with the district.

Academics

The IASD consistently demonstrates that it is in the top tier of public school districts. Recently, it was ranked as one of the top 100 school districts by Offspring Magazine.

Standardized tests

The IASD does especially well on standardized tests. It was once ranked third, out of 501 school districts, in scores on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment tests, or PSSAs, given to all 5th, 8th, and 11th grade students, and has received numerous accolades for its journalism and social studies programs, including a $349,000 grant given to the senior high history program. In addition, graduating classes have averaged up to 40 more points on the Scholastic Aptitude Test than the national average.

Post-secondary education

Each class graduates nearly 80% of its students into post-secondary education. Most attend Indiana University of Pennsylvania, located within the district. IASD also consistently sends students into three leading local universities, Carnegie Mellon University, The Pennsylvania State University and the University of Pittsburgh. IASD alumni have also entered the United States Naval Academy, the United States Military Academy, Harvard University, Cornell University, the University of Pennsylvania, Bucknell University, the University of Virginia, the University of Richmond, the University of Notre Dame, Case Western Reserve University, James Madison University, New York University, Manhattan School of Music, Villanova University, the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and The Juilliard School. Many students who do not go on to post-secondary education choose to join the United States Marine Corps.

Extracurricular programs

IASD offers a variety of extracurricular activities, the chief among them being sports. The junior and senior high school also offer clubs with a majority of students participating in them.

Clubs

Both IJHS and IHS offer club programs for students. The largest among them is a volunteer club, Builders' Club at IJHS and Key Club at IHS. Key Club counts about 25% of the IHS student body as members. At IHS, there is also Future Business Leaders of America, Relay For Life and many theater clubs among its 20+ clubs.

Sports

The entire district offers a wide variety of sports. The elementary schools have basketball, grouped by sex and grade. At the end of each school year, each school stages an "All-School Tournament," in which all players are eligible. IJHS offers students football, soccer, track and field, cross country and girls' volleyball for the first time in school. IHS has even more selection. Boys' baseball, girls' softball, winter track and field, tennis, golf, rifle, hockey and swimming and diving.
Ben Franklin's colors are green and gold, and the teams are known as the Braves. Eisenhower's colors are blue and gold, and the teams are known as the Eagles. East Pike's colors are red and white, and the teams there are known as the Chiefs. Horace Mann's colors are red and white, and teams there are known as the Warriors.
The colors of the junior- and senior high schools are red and black, and the mascot is the "Indians." The fight song is "Cherokee." This is taken from IUP's teams, which used to be known as the "Indians," and their fight song was "Cherokee" as well. In general, most teams are outfitted in white uniforms, but the football team also wears blood-red and black jerseys and pants; the softball team wears gray, pinstriped uniforms; the basketball teams also wear black uniforms; and the hockey team has red, black and white uniforms.
Generally, the cross country, swimming and diving, boys tennis, ice hockey and boys and girls' and boys' basketball and track and field teams are Indiana's strongest teams. The boys basketball team won the Class AAA WPIAL Championship in 2014–2015 season. They beat Beaver Falls 62–61 at the Peterson Events Center at University of Pittsburgh. The ice hockey team won the D-2 championship in the 2014–15 season. Beating Carrick by a score of 3–0. Indiana usually plays schools with double the class sizes. During the 2018 season, IHS's men's cross country team were PIAA state runner-ups in the AA division. The hockey team competes in the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League, while all other teams compete in the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League, or WPIAL.
Additionally, several IHS athletes have gone on to participate in post-secondary sports teams in various sports, such as basketball, football, softball, cross country, track and field, and swimming. One IHS alum, Joey Bujdos, earned 22 varsity letters in only 4 years of attending IHS, participating in the sports golf, cross country, swimming, indoor track and field, tennis, and spring track and field. A Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported called Bujdos, "...possibly be the most unique athlete in WPIAL history."

Student Councils

Student councils/governments are available for students in both the IHS and IJHS to participate in. In the IJHS, the student council is called the Student Council or STUCO for short. In the IHS, the student council is known as the Student Government Association or SGA for short. Students must maintain a set grade point average in order to participate.

IJHS STUCO

Students in grades 6-8 are eligible to participate in the Junior High Student Council. The student council is a student led organization dedicated to benefiting the Indiana Junior High School. The Indiana Junior High STUCO is currently advised by Mrs. Genna Chakot. The student council is primarily led by a president and vice president elected each year, along with several other important positions.

IHS SGA

Students in 9-12 grade can be admitted into SGA. It helps set up the Schools annual Teddy bear fund drive and the Red Cross Blood drive. It is advised by Mr. Michael Bertig.

Notable alumni/Indianians