In 1958, East Lampeter Township, Upper Leacock Township, and West Earl township merged their school systems to form the Conestoga Valley School District. Its original high school was dedicated on present-day Smoketown Elementary School as East Lampeter High School. Sometime after 1970, the high school was moved to another location along Horseshoe Road, renamed Conestoga Valley High School, and built completely new while the old building was dedicated as Smoketown Elementary School.
Penn Johns Elementary School
Located in Bird In Hand, Penn Johns Elementary School was the previous fifth elementary school of Conestoga Valley. It was the last remaining school for the Plain community that over time lost its original purpose and transitioned into a regular elementary school that served all local residents. It was established around 1953 as an Amish and Old Order Mennonite school, but the Amish community no longer attended the school. In 2007, the Conestoga Valley school board voted to close the school for good, citing new teacher certification requirements, operating costs, and new curriculum requirements. The school served around 35 students at the time of closing taught by only two teachers, one for grades 1-4 and one for grades 5-8. The 35 students then matriculated into the four remaining elementary schools.
Recent developments
For the 2009-2010 school year and beyond, the school board voted to change the school hours of all schools in the district. In previous years, elementary school hours went from 8:20 a.m. to 2:25 p.m. and middle and high school hours went from 7:50 a.m to 3:10 p.m. These hours were changed to 8:50 a.m. to 3:25 p.m. for the elementary schools, 7:35 a.m. to 2:40 p.m. for the middle school, and 7:35 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. for the high school. For the 2012-2013 school year, Conestoga Valley received a $985,891 state grant to establish two pre-kindergarten classes, expand full-day kindergarten to more students, and added teachers to its ESL program. The grant was part of Pennsylvania's "Keystones to Opportunity" initiative that distributed $36 million to school districts in the state.
Academics
Conestoga Valley School District has been named one of the "Best Communities for Music Education" multiple times by the NAMM Foundation. A survey is made available every year for school districts to fill out, of which schools are selected based on several criteria, including funding, music class participation, instruction time, and facilities. Conestoga Valley has achieved this recognition six times, which required the district to score in the 80th percentile or higher out of all of the other applicants.
