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Altoona is a city in Blair County , Pennsylvania , United States . It is the principal city of the Altoona, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area . The population was 49,523 at the 2000 census . Wayne Hippo is Altoona's mayor. The other members of Altoona City Council are Matthew Garber, Mark Geis, Bruce Kelley, Ronald Reidell, Joseph Rieker, and William Schirf. Altoona-Blair County Airport is the commercial airport serving Altoona. The town is home to the Altoona Curve baseball team of the Double A Eastern League , which is the Double A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates . It also houses the 75+ year-old Altoona Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Nicholas Palmer. Altoona is served by a career fire department of 65 personnel, the largest career department between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh, PA. Altoona is also home to The Pennsylvania State University , Ivyside Park campus, also known as Penn State Altoona . This is the second largest Penn State Commonwealth Campuses . The college has approximately 3800 Students as of the 2006-07 school year. Altoona has an education system that contains two high schools, one parochial, one public. Bishop Guilfoyle High School is the private parochial school having grades 9-12, located at 2400 Pleasant Valley. Blvd. Altoona Area High School houses grades 10-12, and is located at 711 7th St. Altoona High is much larger than Bishop Guilfoyle graduating around 600 students annually, while Guilfoyle now graduates around 100. Most athletic teams at Bishop Guilfoyle are the smallest classification within the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA), which is Class single A. In contrast, those at Altoona Area High School are the largest classification within the PIAA, which is AAAA. These high schools rarely compete against each other, except in basketball and tennis.