High Schools in Erie City School District

The Erie City School District in Pennsylvania is home to two high schools: Erie High School and Northwest PA Collegiate Academy. While both schools serve grades 9-12, the data shows a significant performance gap between the two, with Northwest PA Collegiate Academy standing out as the higher-performing institution.

Northwest PA Collegiate Academy is ranked 98th out of 681 Pennsylvania high schools, earning a 4-star rating from SchoolDigger, while Erie High School is ranked 666th with a 1-star rating. This difference is reflected in the schools' Keystone Exam proficiency rates, where Northwest PA Collegiate Academy outperforms both Erie High School and the Erie City School District across all subject areas, including Algebra I, Biology, and Literature. For example, in 2024-2025, 58.9% of Northwest PA Collegiate Academy students were proficient or better in Algebra I, compared to just 2.7% at Erie High School and 24.1% for the district.

Despite the performance gap, both schools have similar 4-year graduation rates of around 88% and low dropout rates of 1.4% for the 2023-2024 school year. Additionally, both schools have very high rates of free/reduced lunch recipients, suggesting a high level of economic disadvantage among the student populations. The higher spending per student at Northwest PA Collegiate Academy, $20,852 compared to $18,239 at Erie High School, may be a contributing factor to its stronger academic outcomes, though the student-teacher ratios are not vastly different between the two schools.