The story
Shortly before the turn of the 20th century, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania called for special districts acting as their own local government units to run the state's public school system, whereas counties, boroughs, townships, towns, and cities had previously been allowed to run schools. In 1900, the legislature commissioned Danville School District. Originally, the district covered only Danville, but it was granted an increasing geographical region as the state decommissioned surrounding districts. It expanded to cover all but the very northernmost townships of Montour County. Later, with the decommission and annexation of South Danville School District, it took up part of Northumberland County as well. In 1957, Danville School District was awarded the designation of "Area" in its name. In 2007, a U.S. News & World Report study rated Danville High School in the top 5% as one of the best public high schools in the United States of America. In 2010, the high school was no longer listed in the Top US Schools Listing.
From Wikipedia’s article on Danville Area School District, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4