Elk Valley as a community school

Elk Valley Elementary, part of Girard School District, became a United Way Community School in 2018. Elk Valley Elementary School is located in the western part of Erie County. Students K-4 attend Elk Valley from Lake City, Girard, and Girard Township.— Elk Valley serves about 526 students, with 63.7% economically disadvantaged, 1.1% English Language Learners, 21.1% receiving special education services, and 2.9% experiencing homelessness. Data pulled from Future Ready PA Index. All data points feature the most up-to-date publicly available metrics.

For more information and district resources, visit girardsd.org, or check out their Facebook!

United Way community school director

Community School Directors are United Way of Erie County employees embedded full-time within each Community School. They serve as the on-site connector between the school and community, building relationships with students, families, staff, and partners to remove non-academic barriers to learning. By coordinating resources and aligning support, Community School Directors, with the assistance of United Way backbone staff, help ensure every student and family has what they need to succeed in school and life.

Meet Elk Valley's Community School Director, Tammy Rader

A graduate of Girard School District, Tammy earned a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a Master’s degree in Counseling from Edinboro University. She went on to become a Nationally Certified Counselor and has nearly ten years of experience in the counseling field.

Prior to becoming a Community School Director, Tammy served as Director of the Family Based Mental Health Program at Family Services of Northwestern Pennsylvania. She has been the Community School Director at Elk Valley Elementary since March 2020.

Corporate Partners

Corporate Partners are integrated partners, not just donors. Their collaboration creates consistency, resources, and opportunities that directly impact student success and family well-being — key pillars of the Community Schools Model.

These businesses and organizations provide both financial and volunteer support, working side-by-side with Community School Directors to create meaningful opportunities, improve learning environments, and strengthen connections between schools and the community.

Interested in becoming a Corporate Partner? Contact Julie Chacona, Executive Vice President and Chief Development Officer at julie@unitedwayerie.org or Anita Kuchcinski, Vice President of Development at anita@unitedwayerie.org.

Meet Elk Valley's Corporate Partners:

cOMMUNITY sCHOOL hiGHLIGHT

Every year, United Way Community Schools make measurable strides across the four pillars of the Community School Model. Here's one highlight from the last school year.

Elk Valley is expanding access to engaging after-school opportunities for students! In the 2024–2025 school year:

38 after-school programs offered

200 unduplicated students participated in at least one program

Community school data dashboard

This dashboard provides a comprehensive view of academic performance, attendance, and survey data for Elk Valley Elementary as a United Way Community School. It contains seven interactive pages, each focusing on a distinct area of data.

Page 1 presents key school facts from the most recent year of available data.
Page 2 displays PSSA scores, allowing users to select metrics and filter by subject and demographics.
Page 3 shows PVAAS scores for the most recent year, with similar filtering options.
Page 4 highlights attendance data, which can be filtered by year.
Pages 5-7 include student, family, and staff survey results, also filterable by year. All visuals and filters are interactive, enabling users to click within charts to explore the data in greater depth.

IMPACT STORIES

These stories highlight real examples of how the United Way Community Schools model is creating lasting change. From improved student engagement to stronger family connections, each story showcases the people, partnerships, and progress driving success across our community.