SELINSGROVE,

PA –

SNYDER CO.

H O M E OF T

H E SE L I N

S G R O V E AR E A S

E A L S

COMMUNITY PR

OFILE F

OR:

LOCATIONS OF COUNTIES RESEARCHED

KeySnyderUnionCambria

TOWNSHIPS & BOROUGHS IN SNYDER COUNTY

U.S. CENSUS BUREAU DATA, W/PERSONAL COMPARISONS

County/City: Snyder Co. Selinsgrove, PA Lewisburg, PA (Union Co.)

Johnstown, PA (Cambria Co.)

Population (2012 est)

39,672 5,583 5,763 20,577

White 97.3% 91.7% 90% 80%Foreign Born 1.4% 3% 3.7% 1%ESL spoken @ home

7.8% 6.5% 9% 4%

Home Ownership 77% 53% 43% 50%HS Graduates 83% 86% 91% 84%Bachelor’s + 16% 25% 40% 12%Median Income $47,059 $37,063 $30,759 $25,186Below Poverty Level

11.4% 17.9% 24% 34%

Square Miles ~328 1.83 0.97 5.89People/sq. mile 121 3,088 5,953 3,560

quickfacts.census.gov

SUPPORTING INFORMATION ABOUT SELINSGROVEReligion: The most prominent religious congregations include the Evan.

Lutheran Church in America and the United Methodist Church, followed by the United Church of Christ and only 1.2% of congregations being Catholic.

 Employment/Economy: The largest employers include the school district,

Susquehanna University, and “housing related manufacturers.” Prominent employers nearby include Evangelical Community Hospital and Sunbury Community hospital.

Flooding: While the borough’s website generally was quite similar to any other city website, one unique feature was the extensive information on flooding hazard, due to the borough’s location in the flood plain of the Susquehanna River. Since 1891, 56 over-bank floods have affected property and land near the river. While some of these floods have resulted from tropical storms, many are the result of snow-melt and the backup of nearby Penn’s Creek.www.selinsgrove.org

http://www.city-data.com/city/Selinsgrove-Pennsylvania.html

SCHOOL PERFORMANCE DATA & COMPARISON

Middle School Selinsgrove Lewisburg Greater JohnstownEnrollment 600 451 651White 92% 84% 57%Black/Af.Am. 3% 5% 35%Hispanic 2% 6% 2%Asian 2% 4% <1%Title I? Yes No YesEcon. Disadvantaged 36% 21% 79.57%

Gifted 5.67% 9.53% 2.92%Special Ed. 13% 12% 17%ELL <1% 3% <1%Academic Score Green – 73.8 Lite Blue – 86.4 Red – 52.1PSSA/Keystone Proficiency

Math, Reading, Writing, Science

Exceeds Expectations in Math, Reading, Writing

None – Academic growth in Reading

Daily Attendance 94% 96% 91%

http://paschoolperformance.org/Profile/5771

PA INTERMEDIATE UNIT/SCHOOL DISTRICT MAP

Snyder Co. is divided into two school districts: Midd-West and Selinsgrove Area. Selinsgrove Area SD is directly south of Lewisburg SD in Union Co, and Selinsgrove Area SD encompasses a smaller portion of Snyder County in the east of the county.

http://www.dot.state.pa.us/Internet/Bureaus/pdPlanRes.nsf/infoBPR_Education_PA_Intermediate_unit

A CLOSER LOOK AT THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS

School District Selinsgrove Area Lewisburg Greater JohnstownPopulation: 21,530 18,168 28,689White: 99% 84% 88%Black/Af.Am. 313 1,142 2,640Hispanic/Latino 417 1,104 622Total Households 7,708 5,523 14,172Married Couple homes 4,410 (57.2%) 2,791 (50.5%) 5,172 (36.2%)

Avg. Family Size 3 3 3School Enrollment 6,125 7,096 5,261HS Grad+ 83.4% 89.4% 82.8%Bachelor’s + 20% 35.5% 13.4%Most common income range

$50,000-$74,999 (19.5%)

$50,000-$74,999 (20%)

$50,000-$74,999 (19.5%)

Families earning$24,999 or less

1,961 (25.5%) 492 (14%) 2,263 (29.7%)

Families earning $150,000 or more

388 (5.1%) 519 (14.8%) 65 (0.8%)

http://proximityone.com/pa_sdc.htm#dp1

Market St. w/privately owned shops & restaurants and life’s necessities.

Hours of operations sign on Emma’s Foods for Life, the one place we hoped to eat. Kinsfolk was also closed. I think it says something about the laid-back, family focused, perhaps religious mindset of a town in which most businesses are closed Sundays.

We ended up eating at BJ’s, which was open for lunch and dinner. My general impression of BJ’s was a small, privately owned restaurant with big ambitions. With an oyster bar and high-end steaks on a relatively pricey menu, BJ’s seems to be appealing to a more hip, food-savvy crowd than most restaurants

TALKING WITH TAMMY AT BJ’SOur waitress, Tammy, is a mother of a 7th grader at Selinsgrove Area Middle School. I told

Tammy I would be working at SAMS with the guidance counselor Mr. Smolleck, and she said she was meeting with him Monday to discuss problems with one of her daughter’s teachers. Overall, she seemed hesitant to say that the district was awesome, but did not bash it either. Here are the main points that came up in our conversation, paraphrasing Tammy’s words.

• “I have to be grumpy mom sometimes,” referring to going in and talking to teachers/admin.

• “[The school] is nice. You’ll like it there. It’s pretty quiet.”• “Problems usually happen on the bus. It seems kids forget the bus is still school.”• Several years ago they consolidated all the districts in the surrounding area. Tammy

thinks that Midd-West is too big, that there is too much bussing. Some students ride the bus for 1.5 hours before even starting the school day. She didn’t say anything specific regarding Selinsgrove and consolidation, though.

• There are some “stinker” kids, but you’ll have that anywhere.• Out of all of the districts around here, I would have chosen Selinsgrove if given the

choice.• Remarked that the football team hasn’t been very good in several years, in response to

my anecdote that they beat my high school in state playoffs while I was there.

Two things stuck out to be about this conversation: 1. the concerted cultivation characteristics of a mom who seems to frequently interact with teachers and administration on behalf of her daughter and 2. the reluctance to bad-mouth the school despite a seeming reluctance to say it was really great. The concerted cultivation evidence, in tandem with the demographic data, indicates that this is probably pretty common at SAMS, and will be something that affects a guidance counselor and other faculty and staff, perhaps even to the point of detracting from the job the educators are doing.. The seeming loyalty to the school is important, because it indicates that there is a potential for a lot of parental and family support. This is interesting to me especially in contrast to my home district, where people were more likely to complain without taking action.

A small bakery on Market St. (also closed) caught our eyes with its elegant cakes in the display window. In line with BJ’s menu, this place brought to mind a small town with personal charm, but also big-city ambitions.

The Susquehanna River is a prominent geographical, scenic, recreational, and dangerously powerful natural feature of Selinsgrove.

A more upscale, expensive housing development which said “suburban, white, middle class” to me as I drove through - two cars in the driveway, nice lawns, siding intact and painted, with landscaping. To top it off we saw 3 different boys playing basketball in their driveways, one with his father.

Cows in your backyard speaks even more strongly to the variety of beliefs and experiences that students in Selinsgrove could be bringing into the school.

The fish mailbox seemed to say a lot about a certain type of family living in Selinsgrove. To me, it said angler, outdoorsman, even Conservative Republican. While it could also simply be an example of the popularity of recreation that the river provides, I do know that there are some neighborhoods in which it would be embarrassing or even prohibited to have such a mailbox.

A big part of Selinsgrove is Susquehanna University. The presence of a university could indicate more wealth and education coming from professors and administrators residing within the district, as well as potentially higher value of education and a more liberal-based demographic, as with more education comes a more elastic view on truth and knowledge.

This is a picture of the sign for the larger, commercial shopping area right on Rt. 15. A direct contrast to Market St., this area provides chain stores and restaurants to the community, showing that while the area might value a local-owned, closed-on-Sundays ideal, they have not been isolated from modern amenities and are also collecting taxes from these larger, nationally-based corporations.