The state Department of Education released 2016 School Performance Profile scores for all Pennsylvania schools last week, and PhillyVoice has organized the scores for schools in the four suburban counties – Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery – into 10 tables.
The first two tables show the highest-scoring middle and elementary schools among all four counties. The final eight show the best-performing middle and elementary schools in each county.
The calculation of SPP scores had been put on hold last year for most schools to give teachers and students a year to adjust to the new Core Curriculum and realignment of the PSSA, or Pennsylvania System of School Assessment standardized test. The 2016 SPP scores are the first to reflect middle and elementary school student performance on the more challenging PSSA. The Department of Education, at the direction of Gov. Tom Wolf, is currently working to make the standardized test-dependent SPP a "better, more holistic measure."
The SPP is calculated using numerous criteria, some weighted more heavily than others. These include student performance on standardized tests, like the PSSA, Keystone Exams and the SAT/ACT college admissions tests. The score also factors in how many students performed proficiently on standardized tests and improvements made by students who had previously underperformed on these tests, among other factors.
A more detailed description of the scoring criteria and Top 50 highest-scoring high schools in the Philadelphia region can be found here. And lists of Philadelphia's top public and charter schools, based on the SPP data, can be found here.
The searchable database of the reports for all the schools in Pennsylvania is available on the education department's website.
Information for the top-scoring middle and elementary schools in the suburban counties is below.
• • •
OVERALL
Top-scoring middle schools in the suburban counties
| Rank | School | District | County | SPP score |
| 1 | Spring-Ford 7th Grade Center
| Spring-Ford Area | Montgomery | 86.9 |
| 2 | New Hope-Solebury | New Hope-Solebury
| Bucks | 86.3 |
| 3 | Charles F. Patton
| Unionville-Chadds Ford | Chester
| 85.5 |
| 4 | Haverford
| Haverford Twp. | Delaware
| 83.7 |
| 5 | Spring-Ford 8th Grade Center
| Spring-Ford Area | Montgomery
| 83.6 |
| 6 | Pennbrook
| North Penn | Montgomery
| 82.2 |
| 7 | Valley Forge
| Tredyffrin-Easttown
| Chester | 81.8 |
| 8 | Springfield
| Springfield
| Montgomery
| 81.7 |
| 9 | Jenkintown
| Jenkintown
| Montgomery
| 81.3 |
| 10 | Fred S. Engle
| Avon Grove | Chester
| 79.7 |
Top-scoring elementary schools in the suburban counties
| Rank | School | District | County | SPP score |
| 1 | Shamona Creek | Downingtown | Chester | 94.6 |
| 2 | North Coventry | Owen J. Roberts | Chester | 93.9 |
| 3 | Souderton CS Cooperative | Souderton CS | Montgomery
| 92.9 |
| 4 | Pine Run | Central Bucks | Bucks
| 92.5 |
| 4 | Limerick | Spring-Ford | Montgomery
| 92.5 |
| 6 | Manoa | Haverford Twp. | Delaware
| 92.3 |
| 7 | Rose Tree | Rose Tree Media | Delaware | 91.9 |
| 8 | New Hope-Solebury Lower
| New Hope-Solebury | Bucks
| 91.4 |
| 8 | Pocopson | Unionville-Chadds Ford | Chester
| 91.4 |
| 10 | York Avenue | North Penn | Montgomery | 91.2 |
| 10 | Devon | Tredyffrin-Easttown | Chester | 91.2 |
BUCKS COUNTY
Middle schools
| Rank | School | District | Type of school | SPP score |
| 1 | New Hope-Solebury | New Hope-Solebury | Public | 86.3 |
| 2 | William Penn | Pennsbury | Public | 76.8 |
| 3 | Charles H. Boehm | Pennsbury | Public
| 76.4 |
| 4 | Poquessing | Neshaminy | Public
| 76.3 |
| 5 | Tamanend | Central Bucks | Public
| 75.2 |
| 6 | Pennridge Central | Pennridge | Public
| 74.6 |
| 7 | Richboro | Council Rock | Public | 72.8 |
| 8 | Newtown | Council Rock | Public
| 72.3 |
| 9 | Lenape | Central Bucks | Public
| 72.0 |
| 10 | Milford | Quakertown Community | Public
| 71.6 |
Elementary schools
| Rank | School | District | Type of school | SPP score |
| 1 | Pine Run | Central Bucks | Public | 92.5 |
| 2 | New Hope-Solebury Lower | New Hope-Solebury | Public | 91.4 |
| 3 | Bucks County Montessori | Bucks County Montessori | Charter
| 91.1 |
| 4 | Butler | Central Bucks | Public
| 90.8 |
| 5 | Cold Spring | Central Bucks | Public
| 90.1 |
| 6 | New Hope-Solebury Upper
| New Hope-Solebury
| Public
| 89.6 |
| 7 | Bridge Valley | Central Bucks | Public | 88.6 |
| 8 | Jamison | Central Bucks
| Public
| 88.5 |
| 9 | Warwick | Central Bucks | Public
| 87.7 |
| 10 | Buckingham | Central Bucks | Public
| 87.5 |
CHESTER COUNTY
Middle schools
| Rank | School | District | Type of school | SPP score |
| 1 | Charles F. Patton | Unionville-Chadds Ford | Public | 85.5 |
| 2 | Valley Forge | Tredyffrin-Easttown | Public | 81.8 |
| 3 | Fred S. Engle | Avon Grove | Public
| 79.7 |
| 4 | Tredyffrin-Easttown
| Tredyffrin-Easttown
| Public
| 78.9 |
| 5 | Stetson | West Chester Area | Public
| 75.8 |
| 6 | J.R. Fugett | West Chester Area
| Public
| 75.0 |
| 7 | Great Valley | Great Valley | Public | 74.6 |
| 8 | Kennett | Kennett Consolidated | Public
| 73.0 |
| 9 | Downingtown | Downingtown Area
| Public
| 70.4 |
| 10 | Owen J. Roberts | Owen J. Roberts
| Public
| 69.1 |
Elementary schools
| Rank | School | District | Type of school | SPP score |
| 1 | Shamona Creek | Downingtown Area | Public | 94.6 |
| 2 | North Coventry | Owen J. Roberts | Public | 93.9 |
| 3 | Pocopson | Unionville-Chadds Ford | Public
| 91.4 |
| 4 | Devon | Tredyffrin-Easttown | Public
| 91.2 |
| 5 | Kathryn D. Markley | Great Valley | Public
| 90.8 |
| 6 | Sugartown | Great Valley
| Public
| 88.9 |
| 7 | Hillendale | Unionville-Chadds Ford
| Public | 88.5 |
| 8 | West Bradford | Downingtown Area | Public
| 88.3 |
| 9 | East Pikeland | Phoenixville Area | Public
| 87.9 |
| 10 | East Vincent | Owen J. Roberts | Public
| 87.8 |
DELAWARE COUNTY
Middle schools
| Rank | School | District | Type of school | SPP score |
| 1 | Haverford | Haverford Twp. | Public | 83.7 |
| 2 | Strath Haven | Wallingford-Swarthmore | Public | 79.4 |
| 3 | Paxon Hollow | Marple Newtown | Public
| 79.1 |
| 4 | Garnet Valley
| Garnet Valley | Public
| 74.8
|
| 5 | Springton Lake
| Rose Tree Media | Public
| 71.9
|
| 6 | Radnor | Radnor Twp. | Public
| 70.0 |
| 7 | Richardson | Springfield | Public | 68.4 |
| 8 | Ridley | Ridley | Public
| 61.8 |
| 9 | Northley | Penn-Delco | Public
| 61.1 |
| 10 | Beverly Hills | Upper Darby | Public
| 60.4 |
Elementary schools
| Rank | School | District | Type of school | SPP score |
| 1 | Manoa | Haverford Twp. | Public | 92.3 |
| 2 | Rose Tree | Rose Tree Media | Public | 91.9 |
| 3 | Lynnewood | Haverford Twp.
| Public
| 88.7 |
| 4 | Culbertson | Marple Newtown | Public
| 88.4 |
| 5 | Garnet Valley | Garnet Valley | Public
| 87.9 |
| 6 | Bethel Springs | Garnet Valley
| Public
| 87.2 |
| 7 | Concord | Garnet Valley
| Public | 87.0 |
| 8 | Swarthmore-Rutledge | Wallingford-Swarthmore | Public
| 86.5 |
| 9 | Ithan | Radnor Twp. | Public
| 85.3 |
| 10 | Worrall | Marple Newtown | Public | 85.1 |
MONTGOMERY COUNTY
Middle schools
| Rank | School | District | Type of school | SPP score |
| 1 | Spring-Ford 7th Grade Center | Spring-Ford Area | Public | 86.9 |
| 2 | Spring-Ford 8th Grade Center | Spring-Ford Area | Public | 83.6 |
| 3 | Pennbrook | North Penn | Public
| 82.2 |
| 4 | Springfield | Springfield | Public
| 81.7 |
| 5 | Jenkintown | Jenkintown | Public
| 81.3 |
| 6 | Upper Merion | Upper Merion | Public
| 78.5 |
| 7 | Wissahickon | Wissahickon | Public | 77.2 |
| 8 | Bala Cynwyd | Lower Merion | Public
| 75.9 |
| 9 | Arcola Intermediate | Methacton | Public
| 74.2 |
| 10 | Upper Moreland | Upper Moreland | Public
| 74.0 |
Elementary schools
| Rank | School | District | Type of school | SPP score |
| 1 | Souderton CS Collaborative | Souderton CS | Charter (K-8) | 92.9 |
| 2 | Limerick | Spring-Ford | Public | 92.5 |
| 3 | York Avenue | North Penn | Public
| 91.2 |
| 4 | Stony Creek | Wissahickon | Public
| 91.0 |
| 5 | General Nash | North Penn | Public
| 90.3 |
| 6 | Penn Valley | Lower Merion | Public
| 88.7 |
| 7 | Thomas Fitzwater | Upper Dublin | Public | 87.8 |
| 8 | Evergreen | Perkiomen Valley | Public
| 87.2 |
| 9 | Royersford | Spring-Ford | Public
| 87.1 |
| 10 | North Wales | North Penn | Public
| 86.7 |