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f ox c hapel a r ea s chool d is tr ict | s tat e of t he s chools
Highlights
• Once again, the Fox Chapel Area School District climbed
in the Pittsburgh Business Times rankings in its Guide
to Southwestern Pennsylvania Schools, published in
the spring of 2019. In 2019, the district ranked number
two in Southwestern Pennsylvania (up two places from
2018) and fifth (up three places from 2018) in the
state. The 11th grade was ranked number four, eighth
grade was ranked fifth, seventh grade was ranked sixth,
and sixth grade was ranked sixth in Southwestern
Pennsylvania. The districtwide fifth-grade ranking
was fourth, the fourth-grade ranking was third, and
the third-grade ranking was number one. The annual
Pittsburgh Business Times’ school guide ranks the 102
school districts in the region and the 493 districts in the
state based on scores from the Pennsylvania System
of School Assessment (PSSA) and Keystone Exams. Fox
Chapel Area has consistently ranked among the top-
performing schools on the list since the rankings were
first published in 2005. Additionally, the Pittsburgh
Business Times ranked Fox Chapel Area High School
number five in Southwestern Pennsylvania based on
both the 2018 SAT and ACT scores.
• In the 2019 Niche rankings, Fox
Chapel Area continued to rank
among the best school districts
in the country. The district
received its fourth consecutive
overall A+ grade and was ranked one of the top 10 school districts
in the state. The district also placed in the top 2% of districts in the
nation in the categories of Best School Districts, Districts with the Best
Teachers, Best Places to Teach, and Safest School Districts.
• High school junior Rajeev Godse received a perfect score on the Advanced Placement (AP)
Statistics Exam. He was one of two students in the world to receive a perfect score. Globally,
222,501 students took the exam.
• A total of 26 high school seniors were recognized by the National Merit Scholarship Program.
Justin Breen, Theresa Heidenreich, Rachel Himmel, Elizabeth Kaslewicz, Zachary Lakkis,
Mitchell Miles, Annika Urban, Gina Wang, Landon Williams, and Ziya Xu were named 2019
National Merit Finalists, and Arnav Gupta was named a Semifinalist. The following 15
students were Commended: Vaishavi Agrawal, Abigail Baldauf, Benjamin Cagan, Steven
Cano, Kristen Friday, Marissa Hardiman, Sanjana Harish, Cara Himmel, Jayanth Kashyap,
Trevor Klatt, Eric Moore, Jared Nord, Robert Shymansky, Benjamin Weiss, and Chloe Yofan.
• Sophomore Sanjay Seshan was named one of four overall winners at the Covestro
Pittsburgh Regional Science & Engineering Fair and qualified to participate in the Intel
International Science and Engineering Fair, which is the Olympics of student science
competitions. The international competition was held in May in Phoenix.
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FOX CHAPEL AREA