E.N. Peirce Middle School
| E.N. Peirce Middle School | |
|---|---|
| State |  Pennsylvania
|
| Region | Southeast Pennsylvania |
| Map | |
| Information | |
| Member of SO since | 1988 |
| Teams | 1 |
| Feeds to | B. Reed Henderson High School |
| School District | West Chester Area School District |
| Results History | |
| Best regional | 1st (1989-1991, 1993) |
| Best state | 1st (1989-1992) |
| Best nationals | 3rd (1990-1991) |
E.N. Peirce Middle School (commonly Peirce Middle School) is a Division B team located in Chester County, PA. For most of their history, they competed in the Southeastern Region of Pennsylvania, but they currently compete in the Central East region.
School Info
Peirce is one of the three middle schools in the West Chester Area School District, with the others being G.A. Stetson Middle School and J.R. Fugett Middle School. The school was founded in 1959 as "North Junior High School", and was renamed in 1977. Notably, Peirce and Stetson have the exact same architectural layout, having been built at the same time.
The students that attend this school go to West Chester B. Reed Henderson High School for high school.
History
In the early days of Science Olympiad, Peirce was the first dominant B division team in the state. They won their first state title in just their second year of competition, which started a four-year winning streak from 1989-1992, placing highly at Nationals each of these years. In 1990 and 1991, Peirce took 3rd place at Nationals. They were the first Division B team in Pennsylvania to win more than one state championship.
After Peirce's final appearance at the national tournament in 1993, their coach Charlotte Knighton retired. While they continued to qualify for the state tournament on a regular basis, the loss of their coach significantly reduced their hopes of qualifying for nationals.
21st Century
In the 21st century, Peirce has occasionally qualified for the state tournament. Their best states placement this century was 9th place at the 2003 Pennsylvania State Tournament.
In 2021, Peirce qualified for states for the first time in nine years. Though they missed states in 2022 and 2023, they qualified in both 2024 and 2025.
Results Table
| Season | Regional | State | Nationals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | 1st | 1st | 5th (85) |
| 1990 | 1st | 1st | 3rd (104) |
| 1991 | 1st | 1st | 3rd (92) |
| 1992 | 2nd | 1st | 4th (99) |
| 1993 | 1st | 2nd | 11th (58) |
| 1994-1997 | Results unknown | ||
| 1998 | 9th | - | |
| 1999 | 5th | - | |
| 2000 | - | - | |
| 2001 | - | - | |
| 2002 | 7th | 18th (442) | - |
| 2003 | 8th | 9th (343) | - |
| 2004 | - | ||
| 2005 | - | - | |
| 2006 | 12th (389) | - | - |
| 2007 | - | ||
| 2008 | 9th | 32nd (570) | - |
| 2009 | - | - | |
| 2010 | 16th (423) | - | - |
| 2011 | Did not compete | ||
| 2012 | 10th (349) | 35th (597) | - |
| 2013 | 15th (349) | - | - |
| 2014 | 11th (267) | - | - |
| 2015 * | 7th (169) | - | - |
| 2016 | 11th (275) | - | - |
| 2017 | 12th (292) | - | - |
| 2018 | 13th (297) | - | - |
| 2019 | 12th (292) | - | - |
| 2020 | 10th (239) | - | - |
| 2021 | 15th (222) | 24th (361) | - |
| 2022 | 11th (205) | - | - |
| 2023 | 12th (231) | - | - |
| 2024 * | 4th (75) | 34th (611) | - |
| 2025 * | 4th (99) | 25th (551) | - |
- *In these seasons, Peirce competed at the Central East Pennsylvania Regional