Education

Education

Further information: Wilson College (Pennsylvania)

Further information: Chambersburg Area Senior High School

Wilson College

Wilson College is a private, Presbyterian-related, liberal arts women’s college founded in 1869 and named for its first major donor, Sarah Wilson of Chambersburg. The college has 800 students and is known for its Women With Children, Veterinary Medical Technician, and Equestrian programs.

Public Schools

Chambersburg Area Senior High School (CASHS) is a public school with around 1,800 students in grades 10–12, drawn from the borough of Chambersburg and the surrounding townships of Hamilton, Greene, Lurgan, Letterkenny and Guilford. CASHS is accredited by the Middle States Association and has occupied its current facilities since 1955. Principal Dr. Barry Purvis was recognized as the 2006 High School Principal of the Year by the Pennsylvania Association of Elementary and Secondary School Principals.[63]

J. Frank Faust Junior High School is the only public junior high school for eighth and ninth grade students of the Chambersburg Area School District. It serves about 1400 students.

Chambersburg Area Middle School (CAMS) is the only public school for sixth and seventh grade students in the Chambersburg Area School District. During the 2001–02 school year, CAMS was recognized with the Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence by the United States Department of Education,[64] the highest award an American school can receive.[65][66]

The Franklin County Career and Technology Center is also located in Chambersburg. FCCTC is a school designated for students and adults to learn vocational trades while still learning core subjects in school. The school offers training in about 20–30 different concentrations. There are currently six different school districts with students attending FCCTC: Chambersburg, Fannett-Metal, Greencastle-Antrim, Shippensburg, Tuscarora, and Waynesboro.[67]

The Chambersburg school district includes seventeen elementary schools. Many school are being upgraded, rebuilt, or closed because of out-of-date buildings and lack of space. As of July 2008, the current School Board President is Stanley Helman. Other members include Anne Boryan, Renee Sharpe, Norman Blowers, Lori Leedy, Fred Rice, Dave Schiamanna, and Joe Tosten. One seat is currently being filled after the resignation of the previous board president, Dr. Thomas Orndorff. [68]

1921 post card of the Post Office building, which currently houses Coyle Free Library.
Scotland School for Veterans’ Children

The Scotland School for Veterans’ Children (SSVC) was a state owned school that offered tuition-free residential education programs for children of Pennsylvania residents who are veterans or are currently serving in the U.S. armed forces.[69] Scotland School had an original founding date of 1863. It was founded as a result of two orphaned children going door to door begging for food. They knocked on the door of then governor, Andrew Gregg Curtin. Governor Curtin and his wife realized there was a forgotten group of people resulting from the American Civil War, the orphaned children of soldiers. Governor Curtin set up 70 schools across the state and they became known as the ‘Soldier’s Orphan Schools’. As students graduated, the student bodies of the schools began to decline and in 1895 all of the schools closed saved one, the one located in Scotland. The name was changed to Scotland School for Veteran’s Children. The purpose was then changed to provide an education to any child of any veteran, whether that veteran was living or deceased. Because of this new purpose and subsequent name change, the founding date of the school was changed to 1895. It was located about four miles (6 km) north of Chambersburg in the unincorporated village of Scotland and had about 300 students in grades 3–12. The school was established in 1895 as the Pennsylvania Soldiers Orphans Industrial School. Over 10,000 students have been educated at the school. The 186-acre (0.75 km2) campus contains about 70 buildings including residential cottages.[70] In 2009, Governor Ed Rendell removed funding for the school in the year’s state budget, thereby forcing the school to close.[71]

Private schools

Private schools include Corpus Christi, a Catholic school with 310 students and over 20 teachers[72] and Cumberland Valley Christian School, a private Christian kindergarten through twelfth grade academy located in Chambersburg. Cumberland Valley Christian School is affiliated with the Open Door Church and has approximately four hundred students. Other private schools include the Montessori Academy of Chambersburg (22 months-8th grade, non-denominational) and Shalom Christian Academy (K-12, Mennonite affiliation), and several elementary schools with Mennonite, Baptist, Brethren, Christian Science, and other religious orientations.[73]

Library

Coyle Free Library[74] has roots going back to 1891,[75] when a library of 166 books was organized by the local Afternoon Club. A member of the club, Blanche Coyle, left a bequest of $30,435 in 1915 to construct a library building. The building was completed in 1924, located at the corner of Second and Queen Streets. Later the library was made part of the Franklin County Library and began to receive funds from the County and State, though the Afternoon Club still donated funds though at least 1979. The building it currently occupies is a former post office.

from wikipedia