Other / mixed grade configuration · Bethlehem, PA

Fountain Hill El Sch

Federal NCES profile for Fountain Hill El Sch, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 48/100.

2024-25 NCES dataOther / mixed grade configurationNCES 420357006723
0/100100/10048/100
👥 S:T ratio
53
🌟 Gifted program
70
🎓 Counselors
65
📋 Attendance
6
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →

The verdict

Fountain Hill El Sch earns 48/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 75% of Pennsylvania schools.

#2 of 5
schools in Bethlehem · Resource Index
48
Resource Index · Typical
11.8:1
small classes for Pennsylvania
82.8%
free-lunch eligible

Fountain Hill El Sch has class sizes smaller than 75% of Pennsylvania schools. Computed live against every Pennsylvania school reporting to NCES.

By Resource Investment Index, Fountain Hill El Sch ranks #2 of 5 schools in Bethlehem, PA.

Enrollment

530

Pennsylvania · 2024-25 NCES data

Teachers (FTE)

45.0

Federal CCD staff survey

Students per teacher

11.8:1

vs 13.6:1 Pennsylvania avg

-13% vs state

Free-lunch eligible

82.8%

vs 58.1% Pennsylvania avg

+43% vs state

Student-teacher ratio in context

How Fountain Hill El Sch compares with Pennsylvania and U.S. medians

At or below state median

Source: NCES Common Core of Data As of 2024-25 federal staff survey Total enrollment ÷ full-time-equivalent classroom teachers

What stands out at Fountain Hill El Sch

Fountain Hill El Sch is a high-poverty, mid-sized combined-grade school in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, enrolling 530 students.

Class sizes run a bit leaner than typical: 11.8:1 puts it in the smaller third of Pennsylvania schools by student-teacher ratio.

Economic need runs somewhat above the state's typical profile, with 82.8% of students eligible for free meals.

With 530 students, its enrollment sits close to the Pennsylvania median campus size.

Its Resource Investment Index sits near the middle of the pack among 2,889 scored Pennsylvania schools.

Against 126 statewide peers matched on enrollment and economic need, it ranks in the upper tier at #33.

Its student body is led by Hispanic or Latino (73%) and African American (14%) (diversity index 44/100).

Counselor coverage is strong, about 177 students per counselor, inside the American School Counselor Association's recommended 250:1.

Chronic absenteeism is elevated: 37.7% of students missed 10% or more of school days (2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection).

Among Bethlehem's public schools, it stands alongside Lehigh Valley Academy Regional Cs (1,878 students): Fountain Hill El Sch is smaller than that campus by headcount and runs heavier classes (11.8:1 vs 11:1).

Bethlehem Area Sd also operates Liberty Hs (2,541 students) and Freedom Hs (1,792 students) alongside Fountain Hill El Sch.

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 Fountain Hill El Sch compares

Fountain Hill El Sch on the metrics families compare, against Pennsylvania and U.S. means.

Metric This school vs Pennsylvania Pennsylvania avg U.S. avg
Students per teacher 11.8:1 ▼ 13% 13.6:1 15.7:1
Free-lunch eligible 82.8% ▲ 43% 58.1% 51.7%
Enrollment 530 top 39% - -

Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25

11.8:1
Leaner classes than 77% of US schools, among the more generously staffed nationally.
530
Bigger than 65% of US schools by enrollment, mid-sized for the country.

Equity indicators (what these measure)

Economic need
82.8%
free-lunch eligible - 43% above the Pennsylvania average of 58.1%
Above the 40% Title I schoolwide threshold; federal funds support the whole school, not individual students.
Staffing depth
11.8:1
students per teacher - 13% below state mean
Top 25% in Pennsylvania - lower ratio than 75% of state schools
Well under the widely cited 15:1 individualized-attention benchmark, among the leaner class loads nationally.
Engagement
37.7%
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
$17,060
per pupil, district-wide - below Pennsylvania avg of $17,970
Close to the U.S. public-school average per-pupil spend.
Support staff
Counselors3.0 FTE
Per 177 students, the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
5
in-school suspensions + 14 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.9 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 3.6 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.

Overview

  • Common Core of Data (June 2026): enrollment, staffing, and the student-teacher ratio above.
  • Civil Rights Data Collection: discipline counts and program access (AP, gifted, special education).
  • F-33 School District Finance Survey: the district-wide per-pupil spending figures below.

Three separate federal collections, each on its own reporting cadence - which is why this school's numbers line up on a consistent basis against every other school and state on this site, rather than mixing figures pulled from different survey years.

Student demographics

Hispanic or Latino 72.6%
African American 14.0%
White 12.1%
Asian 0.8%
Two or More 0.4%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander 0.2%

Largest group: Hispanic or Latino at 72.6% of enrollment.

Student-body diversity index 43.9/100

Simpson diversity index - at 43.9, Fountain Hill El Sch is more mixed than the Pennsylvania school average of 37.3.

Programs

Gifted & talented Yes

Funding & spending

District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Bethlehem Area Sd, which includes Fountain Hill El Sch.

$17,060
Per student
-5%
vs Pennsylvania
Avg $17,970
+3%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 64.1%
State 24.8%
Federal 11.2%

Source: NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey District-level finance · FY 2021-22 Per-pupil expenditure reflects the district-wide average. Individual school budgets are not reported at the federal level.

How Fountain Hill El Sch Compares to District-Mates

School Enrollment Economic Profile Student-Teacher Ratio
Liberty Hs Larger Lower economic need Higher S:T ratio
Freedom Hs Larger Lower economic need Higher S:T ratio
East Hills Ms Larger Lower economic need Similar S:T ratio
Nitschmann Ms Larger Lower economic need Similar S:T ratio
Northeast Ms Larger Lower economic need Similar S:T ratio

Comparisons are relative to Fountain Hill El Sch's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.

Other Schools in This District

Bethlehem Area Sd · 5 sibling schools

View district profile

Similar other schools in Bethlehem

4 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.

Next steps

Verify locally before acting on Fountain Hill El Sch's federal record.

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 Fountain Hill El Sch

How many students attend Fountain Hill El Sch?

Fountain Hill El Sch has 530 students enrolled. It is a public school in Bethlehem, PA.

What is the student-teacher ratio at Fountain Hill El Sch?

The student-teacher ratio at Fountain Hill El Sch is 11.8:1, which is 13% lower than the Pennsylvania average of 13.6:1 and 25% lower than the national average of 15.7:1. Lower ratios generally mean more individual attention per student.

What percentage of students receive free lunch at Fountain Hill El Sch?

82.8% of students at Fountain Hill El Sch are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Pennsylvania average of 58.1%.

What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Fountain Hill El Sch?

The largest demographic group at Fountain Hill El Sch is Hispanic or Latino at 72.6% of enrollment, in Bethlehem, PA.

What is the Resource Investment Index for Fountain Hill El Sch?

Fountain Hill El Sch has a Resource Investment Index of 48/100 (typical reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 4 factors: student-teacher ratio, counselor availability, attendance rates. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).

How does Fountain Hill El Sch rank among schools in Bethlehem?

By Resource Investment Index, Fountain Hill El Sch ranks #2 of 5 schools in Bethlehem, PA. This compares federal resource and staffing data among local peers; it is not a test-score or academic ranking. See all schools in Bethlehem on the city page.

Is Fountain Hill El Sch a good school?

Fountain Hill El Sch earns 48/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 75% of Pennsylvania schools. This is a resource snapshot, not an academic rating; see the Resource Investment Index question above for what the number does and doesn't measure.

What other schools are in Bethlehem Area Sd?

Besides Fountain Hill El Sch, Bethlehem Area Sd also operates Liberty Hs (2,541 students), Freedom Hs (1,792 students), and East Hills Ms (966 students). See the Bethlehem Area Sd district page for the complete list.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) CCD + Public School Universe (2024-25), CRDC (2021-22), F-33 District Finance Survey (FY 2021-22) · 2024-25 Data as of the 2024-25 school year. Coverage from U.S. Department of Education NCES Common Core of Data. Varies by entity type; administrative districts and certain charter networks may report only a subset of fields.

All federal data sources used on this page

Full source list and how we compute each figure: methodology page.

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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, or report a data error. Data current as of June 2026.