Avonworth school district questions (Pittsburgh, Fox Chapel: chapel, houses, school districts)

[Jn7]

We have been looking at houses that give us quick access to 79 & 279 - this has primarily led us to North Allegheny and Seneca Valley school districts, but we are also interested in a house in the Avonworth school district.

I know NA is ranked as a great school, but I do not care for the huge size of the district. How does Avonworth compare to these types of top tier schools? We are very interested in the house in Ohio Twp because it fits so many of our families needs for home/work life. I just would like to hear how the school district is before getting my hopes up about this house. Thx.

[Retiredcoach]

Avonworth is one of the smallest public school districts in Allegheny County. Student performance on past standardized tests is within the "middle tier" range, when compared to other schools in the region. Because of its limited enrollment size, middle school and high school students are housed/transported to a single school building, with most of the middle school and high school being on different levels of the building. Advanced placement and course offerings are not nearly as diverse, nor readily available, as the larger (and higher performing) nearby school districts, but the opportunities to participate in extracurricular activities abound in Avonworth. In years past, Avonworth has been mentioned as a possible candidate for merger with other nearby school districts, but this scenario has not been revisited in quite awhile, to my knowledge.

[Paul2421]

Originally Posted by Jn7

We have been looking at houses that give us quick access to 79 & 279 - this has primarily led us to North Allegheny and Seneca Valley school districts, but we are also interested in a house in the Avonworth school district.

I know NA is ranked as a great school, but I do not care for the huge size of the district. How does Avonworth compare to these types of top tier schools? We are very interested in the house in Ohio Twp because it fits so many of our families needs for home/work life. I just would like to hear how the school district is before getting my hopes up about this house. Thx.

I would check out north hills which is a little bigger than avonworth and better performing. there are new developments off of highland with easy access.

[Rust Belt Kid]

If you don't care for a huge district, one of the trade offs would be a decreased amount of course options (which may or may not matter to you). Personally, I think Avonworth is an excellent school district. Because enrollment numbers are so small it will never get the same fanfare as the big time districts. It may be a touch below other small districts like South Fayette and Quaker Valley, which are great. I should mention that at this point you are really splitting hairs. Most of the suburban Allegheny County schools are above average, and since education is what you make of it you should find a district that you feel comfortable with. Not everyone wants to graduate with 700 other people, or needs 30 AP courses.

[jea6321]

Avonworth is a good school district and definitely worth considering. Smaller than NA or SV by a lot, but that can be a positive to a lot of people. The district has actually grown quite a bit in the past 15 years. I graduated from Avonworth with 88 people, today graduating classes are about double that.

[Jn7]

Originally Posted by Rust Belt Kid

If you don't care for a huge district, one of the trade offs would be a decreased amount of course options (which may or may not matter to you). Personally, I think Avonworth is an excellent school district. Because enrollment numbers are so small it will never get the same fanfare as the big time districts. It may be a touch below other small districts like South Fayette and Quaker Valley, which are great. I should mention that at this point you are really splitting hairs. Most of the suburban Allegheny County schools are above average, and since education is what you make of it you should find a district that you feel comfortable with. Not everyone wants to graduate with 700 other people, or needs 30 AP courses.

Yes, this is probably closest to how we feel; thanks for posting.

I appreciate the other comments too. It's nice to be moving to an area with many great options.

[gladhands]

One of the region's most influential education figures moved his kid from the Fox Chapel School District to Avonworth. The district is very good and getting even better.

[MountainDewGuy]

I recently moved away from the Pittsburgh area, but if we decided to stay then Ben Avon (Avonworth SD) is where we would live. Frankly, I don't care about the multitude of offerings that large districts like NA have. Avonworth is certainly good enough.

[robrobrob]

I think Coach pretty much nailed it. Great opportunity to participate in sports and other extra curricular activities at the expense of some AP courses. The real question though is whether or not this difference matters when applying to colleges.

Thinking out loud, how many AP courses does Avonworth have compared with North Allegheny? And would this difference even impact your child (cause it probably wouldn't impact my kids)?

[Jn7]

Paschoolperformace.org lists NA at 28 & Avonworth at 9 for AP classes.

For us, personally, I think our children can achieve and be successful with 9. But it is kinda WOW that somewhere can offer 28!

Honors (not AP) and duel enrollment classes are always options too.

This is probably not a new thought to this site, but parents who are seeking opportunities for their kids are probably going to do well at a variety of schools.