Wissahickon School District

The Wissahickon School District is a public school district in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. The school district serves the borough of Ambler and the townships of Lower Gwynedd and Whitpain, all Philadelphia suburbs. The district currently enrolls 5,092 students.^[3]

Wissahickon School District
Address
601 Knight Road Ambler , Pennsylvania, 19002 United States
Coordinates	40.16757°N 75.23171°W / 40.16757; -75.23171
District information
Type	Public
Motto	True Blue with a Heart of Gold
Grades	Kindergarten – 12
Superintendent	James A. Crisfield
Students and staff
Enrollment	5,092 (2022–23)[1]
Faculty	371.26 (FTE)[1]
Staff	320.50 (FTE)[2]
Student–teacher ratio	13.72[1]
District mascot	Trojans
Colours	Blue and gold
Other information
Website	wsdweb.org

History

A copy of the website stated that the district was created in 1964.^[4] The logo stated that the year of establishment was 1966.^[5]

Schools

• Blue Bell Elementary School enrolls 505
• Lower Gwynedd Elementary School enrolls 631
• Shady Grove Elementary School enrolls 654
• Stony Creek Elementary School enrolls 594
• Wissahickon Middle School enrolls 1,126
• Wissahickon High School enrolls 1,467

Former schools

Mattison Avenue Elementary School was formerly in Ambler. In 1975 someone had proposed combining grades 2-3, but the school board that year canceled the proposal.^[6] The school closed in 2013, and its territory was divided between Lower Gwynedd and Shady Grove elementary schools.^[7] The WSD Head Start, formerly in the Mattison Avenue school, continued to operate, but had to move somewhere else.^[8] In 2015 the Ambler borough hall began to occupy the former school.^[9]

There was an Ambler Junior High School. It closed by 1975. That year there was a controversy on how the school should be rezoned.^[10] A company wanted to have apartment units installed in the former junior high school property, while some members of the city council opposed this.^[11] The Reporter of Lansdale, Pennsylvania argued that the development proposals should be known to the public.^[12]

There was previously another elementary school, Forest Avenue Elementary School in Ambler. By 1976 it had closed, with the district no longer using the property and leaving it unmaintained.^[13] The Senior Adults for Greater Adventure (SAGA) organization operated its Ambler center in that facility.^[14]