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About Our School

About Fox Chapel Area High School

Walk down the hallways and listen at the doorways. Enter an English, art, or multimedia class in progress. What you will witness is a collaborative spirit that permeates the building and extends to the community at large. With a motto of "Success for ALL Students," Fox Chapel Area High School has transformed its building and its infrastructure in dramatic ways that have impacted student achievement and invigorated the teaching-learning continuum.

Fox Chapel Area also has been at the forefront of progressive educational initiatives. One example of this is the block schedule. This program is configured as a flexible block schedule with core academic classes offered as semester courses meeting five days per week, 80 minutes per class. Elective courses are offered in multiple manners: as two or three days per week for a semester class or as five days per week for one entire semester session. Students and faculty praise this unique arrangement, which allows for a more intense study of subject matter, while not overwhelming students with an unmanageable course load.

In Numbers

  • There are approximately 1,350 students attending Fox Chapel Area High School.
  • There are approximately 120 professional staff members. This includes six school counselors, a nurse, and a full-time librarian. Additionally, there is one lead principal and two program principals.
     
  • Approximately 84 percent of the professional staff hold a master’s degree or its equivalent and the average years of teaching experience is about 19 years.
     
  • There are 26 advanced placement courses in the curriculum.
     
  • Eleven alternative programs may be selected by students. The alternative programs are:  work experience, community service, professional experience, independent study, college/university concurrent enrollment, early admission, early graduation, course audit (enrichment), spring semester abroad, Fox Chapel Area Online, and vocational/technical education.
     
  • There are 13 boys’ and 14 girls’ interscholastic athletic teams in the school.
     
  • There are approximately 85 extracurricular clubs and organizations and four club sports from which students may elect to join.
     
  • A total of 291 members (78 percent) of the 375 students in the class of 2016 took the SAT during their junior or senior year.
     
  • Of the 345 students in the graduating class of 2018, 88.5 percent are enrolled in some form of continuing education.
     
  • The library has more than 12,000 titles in its collection. Additionally, the library is also part of Pennsylvania’s Power Library system and Access PA, a library loan system that gives students access to more than 2,500 libraries in the state, as well as providing access to online databases.
     
  • There are approximately 2,000 desktop and laptop computers and iPads for staff and students, including wireless access from anywhere in the building.

Accomplishments

  • Fox Chapel Area High School was twice named a National Blue Ribbon School in the United States Department of Education’s Blue Ribbon Schools programs. The school also received the designation from the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
  • The high school received Exemplary Educational Program Credentials in music and school counseling in 2012, and was the first school nationally and internationally to be recognized for Programs of Distinction in Visual Arts in 2015 by the Middle States Association Commissions on Elementary and Secondary Schools.
     
  • In 2017, the district was honored by the College Board with placement on the 7th Annual AP® District Honor Roll, a distinction for districts that show significant gains in student access and success on Advanced Placement courses and tests.
     
  • The high school is consistently given Silver Medal ranks by U.S.News & World Report and was ranked among the nation’s top high schools by Newsweek. The high school was also ranked among the Washington Post’s America’s Most Challenging High Schools in 2017.
     
  • High school orchestra director Mairi Cooper was named Pennsylvania’s 2015 Teacher of the Year and she was Pennsylvania’s nominee for National Teacher of the Year.
     
  • Fox Chapel Area High School Program Principal John McGee was named the 2011 Assistant Principal of the Year by the Pennsylvania Association of Elementary & Secondary School Principals.
     
  • Fox Chapel Area High School sponsors the summer Western Pennsylvania Learning Academy, featuring summer learning experiences for students from throughout the greater Pittsburgh area.