The Oxford Area School District is home to six schools encompassing students

from kindergarten through twelfth grade, including the site of this research project
Hopewell Elementary School.

DEMOGRAPHICS of the Oxford Area School District

Schools: 6
Jordan Bank Elementary School

Elk Ridge School

Nottingham Elementary School

536 Hodgson St.

200 Wickersham Road

736 Garfield St.

Oxford, PA 19363

Oxford, PA 19363

Oxford, PA 19363

(610) 932-6625

(610) 932-6670

(610) 932-6632

Grade: K

Grades: 1 2

Grades: 2-4

Hopewell Elementary School

Penns Grove Middle School

Oxford Area High School

602 Garfield St.

602 Garfield St.

705 Waterway Road

Oxford, PA 19363

Oxford, PA 19363

Oxford, PA 19363

(484) 365-6150

(610) 932-6615

(610) 932-6640

Grades: 5-6

Grades: 7-8

Grades: 9-12

Student Population: 3,741

Classroom Teachers: 242
Student/Teacher Ratio: 21
Students with IEPs: 691
ELL Students: 312
Graduation Rate: 304/321 (94.7%)

Hopewell is comprised of all of the fifth and sixth grade students in the
district. Hopewell has a total of 42 teachers and 603 students, as well as additional
support, cafeteria, and janitorial staff. The building is relatively new. It was
formerly Penns Grove Middle School (which was formerly the Oxford Area High
School until the high school moved into a new facility) until three years ago when
renovation was completed. Hopewell Elementary School is named after the original
Hopewell School which was the first school in the Oxford Area School District. Each
grade is divided into dyad or triad sections whereby two homeroom teachers are
responsible for teaching the combined 50-60 students from the two homerooms. One
teacher is responsible for teaching the mathematics and science curriculums, while
the other is accountable for teaching the language arts and social studies
curriculum. This basic setup in known as a dyad. A triad consists of the teachers
from the dyad setup as well as a learning support teacher. Triad setups are fullinclusion settings where the learning support teacher follows the learning support
students throughout the school day.
For the average student at Hopewell, each day is filled by a 30-minute
homeroom period, an 80 minute math or language arts period, a 40-minute science
or social studies period, a 40-minute R.T.I.I. period, a 60-minute special period, a

30-minute lunch period, a 10-minute recess period, another 80-minute math or

language arts period and another 40-minute science or social studies period. For
the special periods, students have a mandatory schedule throughout the year where
they will attend classes in the areas of computer literacy, art, music, health,
physical education, and library/media studies. Fortunately, even despite talks of
elimination, Hopewell has kept each of its special area classes as has the rest of the
district.
The population of Oxford has a unique effect on the classroom dynamics of
Hopewell. If you were to look into the typical classroom at Hopewell, the population
demographics of the Oxford Borough is reflective of the student make-up of each
classroom. Classrooms are made primarily of white students, with a handful of
Hispanic students, and a few African-American students. The Hispanic population
in the borough is growing considerably as is the population of ESL students within
each school.

DEMOGRAPHICS of Hopewell Elementary School

School Population:
5th grade: 280 students

6th grade: 323 students

Total Teachers: 42

Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity
Asian/Pacific Islander
Hispanic
African-American
White

Student/Teacher Ratio: 21:1

Average Class Size: 26 students
Special Education: 115 students
School Capacity Enrollment: 825 students
Level of Staff Education:
Bachelors Degree: 8
Masters Degree: 32
Doctorate Degree: 2