Enrollment
158
Pennsylvania · 2024-25 NCES data
Other / mixed grade configuration · Waterfall, PA
Forbes Road Jshs
Federal NCES profile for Forbes Road Jshs, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 56/100.
2024-25 NCES dataOther / mixed grade configurationNCES 420987002246
👥 S:T ratio 42
🌟 Gifted program 70
🎓 Counselors 68
📋 Attendance 45
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Forbes Road Jshs earns 56/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the Pennsylvania median. It is also less racially and ethnically mixed than most Pennsylvania schools.
- 56
- Resource Index · Higher
- 14.4:1
- students per teacher
- 32.6%
- free-lunch eligible
- 158
- students enrolled
Forbes Road Jshs has class sizes near the Pennsylvania median. Computed live against every Pennsylvania school reporting to NCES.
School address
District: Forbes Road Sd · Pennsylvania
NCES ID 420987002246 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
11.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
14.4:1
vs 13.6:1 Pennsylvania avg
+6% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
32.6%
vs 58.1% Pennsylvania avg
-44% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Forbes Road Jshs compares with Pennsylvania and U.S. medians
What stands out at Forbes Road Jshs
Small campus without a staffing-size advantage
Forbes Road Jshs enrolls fewer students than most Pennsylvania schools, yet its student-teacher ratio is still on the heavier side of the state distribution. Small enrollment therefore does not translate into more teacher capacity per student here. That makes staffing capacity, rather than campus scale alone, the useful interpretation. The counselor, attendance, and program indicators below help show whether the pressure is narrow or part of a broader resource constraint.
Lower need and stronger resource signals align
Forbes Road Jshs reports lower free-meal eligibility than most Pennsylvania schools and an above-typical Resource Investment Index. The two measures move together, a pattern consistent with the resource advantages that often accompany a lower-need intake. That association should not be mistaken for a causal verdict about the school; it is a transparent description of how this campus sits on two independent federal-data dimensions.
A combined-grade campus has a different support burden
Forbes Road Jshs serves a combined grade span rather than a conventional elementary, middle, or high-school band. That structure can require the same campus to cover transitions, counseling needs, and programs for students at substantially different developmental stages, so a single staffing ratio deserves more caution than it would at a narrower-grade school. Federal totals show the available people and programs, but not how those resources are divided among grade levels.
Forbes Road Jshs is a small combined-grade school in Waterfall, Pennsylvania, enrolling 158 students.
Class loads run somewhat heavier than typical: 14.4:1 puts it in the larger third of Pennsylvania schools by student-teacher ratio.
Economic need runs somewhat below the state's typical profile, with 32.6% of students eligible for free meals.
This is a small campus: fewer students than 94% of Pennsylvania schools, with 158 enrolled.
Its Resource Investment Index lands in the upper third of 2,889 scored Pennsylvania schools.
Against 62 statewide peers matched on enrollment and economic need, it ranks in the upper tier at #18.
Its student body is predominantly White (94% of enrollment), among the less diverse in the state (diversity index 12/100).
Counselor coverage is strong, about 158 students per counselor, inside the American School Counselor Association's recommended 250:1.
Attendance runs somewhat below the norm, with 22.2% of students chronically absent per the 2021-22 civil-rights collection.
The federal civil-rights collection also records 2 expulsions at this campus for 2021-22.
Among Waterfall's public schools, it stands alongside Forbes Road El Sch (219 students): Forbes Road Jshs is smaller than that campus by headcount and runs heavier classes (14.4:1 vs 11.5:1).
Its district, Forbes Road Sd, also runs Forbes Road El Sch (219 students).
Sourced from NCES CCD, CRDC, and F-33 (federal records, not a quality verdict). How we source and compute this.
Source: National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data + CRDC + F-33 · 2024-25
How Forbes Road Jshs compares
Forbes Road Jshs on the metrics families compare, against Pennsylvania and U.S. means.
| Metric | This school | vs Pennsylvania | Pennsylvania avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 14.4:1 | ▲ 6% | 13.6:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 32.6% | ▼ 44% | 58.1% | 51.7% |
| Enrollment | 158 | top 94% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
14.4:1
Leaner classes than 53% of US schools, a middle-of-the-pack class size.
158
Bigger than 15% of US schools by enrollment, a small campus.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Economic need
32.6%
free-lunch eligible
- 44% below the Pennsylvania average of 58.1%
Below the 40% Title I threshold; federal aid targets individual qualifying students rather than schoolwide programs.
Staffing depth
14.4:1
students per teacher
- 6% above state mean
Top 68% in Pennsylvania - lower ratio than 32% of state schools
Close to the 15:1 benchmark most often cited for individualized attention.
Engagement
22.2%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
At or above 20%, the commonly used threshold for "high" chronic absenteeism, signaling significant barriers to regular attendance.
Funding equity
$22,062
per pupil, district-wide
- above Pennsylvania avg of $18,725
Well above the U.S. public-school average, reflecting substantially higher local or state investment per enrolled student.
Support staff
Counselors1.0 FTE
Per 158 students, the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
14
in-school suspensions + 11 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 8.9 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 15.8 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection. Includes 2 expulsions.
Student demographics
White 93.7%
Two or More 3.2%
Hispanic or Latino 2.5%
African American 0.6%
Largest group: White at 93.7% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 12.0/100
Simpson diversity index - at 12.0, Forbes Road Jshs is less mixed than the Pennsylvania school average of 37.3.
Programs
AP courses offered 1
Gifted & talented Yes
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Forbes Road Sd, which includes Forbes Road Jshs.
$22,062
Per student
+18%
vs Pennsylvania
Avg $18,725
+25%
vs U.S.
Avg $17,658
Revenue mix
Local 35.6%
State 58.3%
Federal 6.1%
Source: NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey District-level finance · FY 2022-23 Per-pupil expenditure reflects the district-wide average. Individual school budgets are not reported at the federal level.
How Forbes Road Jshs Compares to District-Mates
| School | Enrollment | Economic Profile | Student-Teacher Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forbes Road El Sch | Larger | Higher economic need | Lower S:T ratio |
Comparisons are relative to Forbes Road Jshs's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.
Other Schools in This District
- Enrollment
- 219
- Students per teacher
- 11.5:1
- Resource Index
- 45/100
Similar other schools in Waterfall
1 comparable other schools (grades Mixed) serving the same city.
Similar other schools statewide
Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of Pennsylvania, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.
Similar enrollment (~158 students)
Similar student-teacher ratio (~14.4:1)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Forbes Road Jshs's federal record.
- Compare Forbes Road Jshs against another school. Compare schools
- Forbes Road Sd's spending and staffing shape this school. District profile
- Confirm current enrollment and boundaries with the school. Choosing guide
Federal record (CCD 2024-25, CRDC 2021-22) - PlainSchools assigns no subjective rating; the composite quality score is a transparent, reproducible index computed from this cited federal data.
Frequently asked questions about Forbes Road Jshs
How many students attend Forbes Road Jshs?
Forbes Road Jshs has 158 students enrolled. It is a public school in Waterfall, PA.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Forbes Road Jshs?
The student-teacher ratio at Forbes Road Jshs is 14.4:1, which is 6% higher than the Pennsylvania average of 13.6:1 and 8% lower than the national average of 15.7:1.
What percentage of students receive free lunch at Forbes Road Jshs?
32.6% of students at Forbes Road Jshs are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Pennsylvania average of 58.1%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Forbes Road Jshs?
The largest demographic group at Forbes Road Jshs is White at 93.7% of enrollment, in Waterfall, PA.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Forbes Road Jshs?
Forbes Road Jshs has a Resource Investment Index of 56/100 (higher reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 4 factors: student-teacher ratio, gifted-program reporting, counselor availability, chronic absenteeism. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).
What other schools are in Forbes Road Sd?
Besides Forbes Road Jshs, Forbes Road Sd also operates Forbes Road El Sch (219 students). See the Forbes Road Sd district page for the complete list.
Related tools
Every figure on PlainSchools is rendered directly from the source NCES, CRDC and F-33 federal records, no number is typed in by an editor. Each school's figures reflect its most recent NCES/CRDC submission on file. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, the data changelog, or report a data error. Data current as of August 2026.