The North Spencer County School Corporation is located approximately 40 miles east of Evansville and 70 miles west of Louisville. The corporation is comprised of numerous small communities. The largest of these communities are Santa Claus, with a population of approximately 2280 residents and Dale, with approximately 1500 residents.
Heritage Hills High School, Heritage Hills Middle School, and four elementary schools comprise the North Spencer County School Corporation. There are no private or parochial schools in the North Spencer school district. Heritage Hills High School has an enrollment of approximately 725. Our enrollment is predominantly Caucasian with approximately two percent minority, mostly Hispanic. The corporation serves 2000 students and has 148 professional staff members.
Spencer County is approximately 398 square miles and has a population of 20,596 (2006 census) residents. A 2005 survey shows about sixty percent of employment is in manufacturing, service and agriculture, and transportation and construction. The major employers in our school district are Holiday World and Splashin’ Safari, Kimball International, AK Steel, Abbey Press, and American Electric Power. For more information, visit http://www.stats.indiana.edu/profiles/pr18147.html.
Nestled at the edge of Lincoln State Park, Heritage Hills High School and Heritage Hills Middle School are located in one of the most beautiful areas of the state. Thousands of visitors each year come to visit Lincoln State Park and the nearby Lincoln National Boyhood Memorial. A drama depicting the 14 years Lincoln spent in Spencer County plays throughout the summer.
Approximately four miles to the east is Santa Claus, named at a town meeting on Christmas Eve. The town became famous for its postmark on volumes of mail that pass through its post office each Christmas, and for Santa Claus Land, the nation's first theme park, which is now Holiday World and Splashin’ Safari.
St. Meinrad and its history are of particular significance to Spencer County. A small town of German and Catholic heritage, it is the home of the St. Meinrad Archabbey. The town was founded and laid out on monastic property in 1861.
With a rich German heritage, there is a strong work ethic in the community; however, the local poverty rate is approximately 8.1 percent. Two of our elementary schools have a large percentage of students, 34 percent and 42 percent, eligible for free and reduced meals and for textbook assistance. Within the past ten years, a Hispanic community has taken root in the school district and continues to grow. This presents new and unique challenges to the educational program.
With approximately 68 percent of the seniors taking the SAT, scores for the
past three years have remained at or near the state average. Approximately
23 percent of the seniors take the ACT with scores being slightly above the
state average. The 2008-2009 school year reported attendance rate was
96.9%, and the 2008 graduation rate was 89.2%. North Spencer's ISTEP scores are
usually about 15 percentage points above the state average. Seventy-five
percent of Heritage Hills graduates report continuing their education at colleges
and universities.
