The Westmont Hilltop School District is a small public school district located in

Cambria County, Pennsylvania Cambria County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 133,472. Its county seat is Ebensburg. The county was created on March 26, 1804, from parts of Bedford, Huntingdon, and Somerset Countie ...

. The WHSD encompasses approximately . It serves the communities of: Upper Yoder Township, Westmont Borough, and Southmont Borough in the western suburbs of

Johnstown, Pennsylvania Johnstown is a city in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 18,411 as of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Located east of Pittsburgh, Johnstown is the principal city of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Metropol ...

. According to 2000 federal census data, it served a resident population of 13,647. By 2010, the district's population declined to 12,898 people. The educational attainment levels for the Westmont Hilltop School District population (25 years old and over) were 96.5% high school graduates and 37% college graduates. The district is one of the 500 public school districts of Pennsylvania. According to the

Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Maryl ...

, 24.3% of the district's pupils lived at 185% or below the Federal Poverty level as shown by their eligibility for the federal free or reduced price school meal programs in 2012. In 2009, the district residents'

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

was $25,374, while the

median family income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two equal groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of ...

was $55,657. In the Commonwealth, the median family income was $49,501 and the United States median family income was $49,445, in 2010. In Cambria County, the median household income was $39,574. By 2013, the median household income in the United States rose to $52,100. The district operates four schools:

Westmont Hilltop High School Westmont Hilltop High School is a small suburban, public high school. It is the sole high school operated by the Westmont Hilltop School District. Westmont Hilltop High School is located in Upper Yoder Township, Cambria County in the western subur ...

, Cyber Academy, Westmont Hilltop Middle School, and Westmont Hilltop Elementary School. The Middle School houses the district administrative offices and Price Field along with a quarter-mile track surrounding Price Field. High school students may choose to attend

Greater Johnstown Career and Technology Center Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality * ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record * "Greater" (song), by MercyMe, 2014 *Greater Bank, an Australian ...

for training in the construction and mechanical trades. The Appalachia

Intermediate Unit {{short description, School service agencies in Pennsylvania In Pennsylvania, intermediate units are regional educational service agencies, established by the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Intermediate units are public entities and serve a given g ...

IU8 provides the district with a wide variety of services like specialized education for disabled students and hearing, background checks for employees, state-mandated recognizing and reporting child abuse training, speech and visual disability services and professional development for staff and faculty.

History

Westmont School District merged with Upper Yoder School District to form Westmont-Upper Yoder School District in 1919. The school district became its current entity when Southmont School District merged with Westmont-Upper Yoder School District in 1956, forming Westmont Hilltop School District.

Extracurriculars

Westmont Hilltop School District offers a wide variety of clubs, activities and an extensive, publicly funded sports program.

Sports

The school district offers: ;Varsity: ;Boys: *

Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

- AA *

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

- AA * Cross country - A *

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

- A *

Golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

- AA *Indoor track and field - AAAA *

Soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

- A *

Swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

and

diving Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), a ...

- AA *

Tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

- AA *

Track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

- AA *

Wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

- AA ;Girls: *Basketball - AA *Cheer - AAAA *Cross country - AA *Indoor track and field - AAAA *Soccer - A *

Softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

- AA *Swimming and diving - AA *Tennis - AA *Track and field - AA *

Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

- AA ;Middle school sports: ;Boys: *Basketball *Cross country *Football *Soccer *Track and field *Wrestling ;Girls: *Basketball *Cross country *Track and field *Volleyball According to PIAA directory July 2015

Closures

In the 1960s, the Elim, Stutzman and Tioga Street Elementary Schools were closed and students transferred to the Southmont and Goucher Street Elementary Schools. * Stutzman School was located at the NE corner of the Goucher St./Menoher Blvd. in Westmont Borough. The building was renovated into a Professional Arts Building with medical and other business offices using the space. The building is again abandoned, but a recreational area on the former schoolyard playground was still in use. The building and playground have just recently been demolished to make way for a CVS Pharmacy. Construction is due to be completed by December 2015. * Tioga Street School was located at the NW corner of Tioga and Colgate Streets in Westmont Borough with a playground extending on the Tioga St. side of the school. The property was demolished and several homes have been built on the site. * Elim School on Harshberger Rd. and Elim St. in Upper Yoder Township now serves as the municipal building and police station for Upper Yoder Township. * In 1977 Southmont School was closed and Goucher Street, the only remaining elementary, was renamed Westmont Hilltop Elementary School. The Southmont School was renovated into an apartment/condo complex.

References

{{reflist, colwidth=30em School districts established in 1919 School districts in Cambria County, Pennsylvania 1919 establishments in Pennsylvania