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What's one thing Colony Middle School gets right about preparing students for what comes next?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
771
Elementary
DISTRICT 344 · STATE 277
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·MATANUSKA-SUSITNA BOROUGH SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 020051000719
Colony Middle School
9250 E Bogard Rd, Palmer, AK 99645 · (907) 761-1500 · Matanuska-Susitna Borough
GRADES PK–08ELEMENTARY41-RURALREGULAR SCHOOL771 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
20.8:1
37 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.8:1 · STATE 15.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
31%
237 students
DISTRICT 53% · STATE 65%
Community
6
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 12 | 2% |
| Grade 6 | 245 | 32% |
| Grade 7 | 248 | 32% |
| Grade 8 | 266 | 35% |
Student demographics
49%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 51% · STATE 71% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
AK STAR + Alaska Science 2024-25 . % Advanced + ProficientEnglish Language Arts
44.2%
AK avg 36.1% . +4.7pp since 2023
Math
45.1%
AK avg 34.6% . +1.7pp since 2023
What this means: On the AK STAR + Alaska Science, Alaska's statewide test, about 44 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 45 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Alaska schools, those numbers are about 36 and 35. Reading and writing scores are up about 5 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 2 points.
AK STAR + Alaska Science results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 44.2% | 45.1% |
| 2023-24 | 39.5% | 43.4% |
% Advanced + Proficient, all students and all tested grades.
Source: AK STAR + Alaska Science. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
41.7%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
42.8%
based on AK schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-1.1pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 42% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 43% typical for Alaska schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Alaska's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like Colony Middle School
Colony Middle School's state test result (41.7% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colony Middle School this school | 771 | 30.7% | 41.7% |
| Teeland Middle School Wasilla | 643 | 39.7% | 40.6% |
| Fred and Sara Machetanz Elementary School Wasilla | 468 | 29.1% | 59.7% |
| Weller Elementary Fairbanks | 413 | 31.7% | 43.3% |
| John Shaw Elementary Wasilla | 507 | 41.2% | 64.9% |
| Pioneer Peak Elementary Palmer | 449 | 39.4% | 57.4% |
Matched among Alaska elementary schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Colony Middle School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Alaska | In Matanuska-Susitna Borough |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 41.7% | #70 of 134 | #14 of 19 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 45.1% | #57 of 150 ▲ 4 | #12 of 23 ▲ 2 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 44.2% | #54 of 150 ▲ 13 | #12 of 23 ▲ 3 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 771 | #1 of 169 | #1 of 27 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 20.8:1 | #124 of 125 | #22 of 22 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 49.1% | #106 of 125 | #18 of 22 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 30.7% | #103 of 142 | #20 of 21 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +0.9% | #15 of 15 | #7 of 7 |
Ranked against other public elementary schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
771
+179 (+30%) vs 2020
-4% since 2000-01, when it was 806
Student : Teacher
20.8:1
was 16.4:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 771 | 37 | 20.8:1 | 31% (237) |
| 2023-24 | 757 | 34 | 22.3:1 | 27% (206) |
| 2022-23 | 735 | 36 | 20.4:1 | 31% (228) |
| 2020-21 | 592 | 36 | 16.4:1 | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 764 | 34.5 | 22.1:1 | 31% (234) |
| 2015-16 | 728 | 36 | 20.2:1 | 26% (190) |
| 2010-11 | 624 | 36 | 17.3:1 | 25% (154) |
| 2000-01 | 806 | 42 | 19.2:1 | 18% (145) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Colony Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students up 1% (764 to 771); teachers up 7% (34.5 to 37).
About Colony Middle School
Colony Middle School is a public elementary school in Palmer, Alaska. The student body numbers 771 students, from pre-K through 8. An average school in this group (elementary schools in Alaska) has about 277 students.
Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District is the district for Colony Middle School. It has 49 schools and 19,495 students.
White students are the majority at Colony Middle School, with 69% of enrollment. It is also 17% multiracial, 7% Hispanic, and 5% Native American. Matanuska-Susitna Borough's residents are about 77% White, 8 points above the school's share. Pick two students at random and there is a 49% chance they belong to different racial or ethnic groups; that figure is the school's diversity index.
Federal records show a student-to-teacher ratio of 20.8:1 at Colony Middle School, with 37 full-time-equivalent teachers. On average, elementary schools in Alaska have 15.3:1, compared with 20.8:1 here. The count of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch equals 31% of enrollment. For comparison, public schools in Matanuska-Susitna Borough average 45%.
A school with Colony Middle School's lunch-eligibility share in Alaska is predicted to score 42.8%. Colony Middle School scores 41.7%, 1.1 points below that line.
County data help place the school in context: in Matanuska-Susitna Borough, the median household income is $94,031, about 24% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and roughly 7% of residents are in poverty. In all, Matanuska-Susitna Borough has 49 public schools and roughly 19,495 students.
The nearest other public school, Colony High School, is about 0.3 miles away. There are at least 8 more public schools inside five miles. Of the 6 nearby schools with scores, including this one, Colony Middle School is 3rd on average proficiency.
For locale, NCES codes Colony Middle School as Rural: Fringe.
Enrollment at Colony Middle School grew 30% between 2020-21 and 2024-25, from 592 to 771 students. There were more students per teacher in 2024-25 (20.8:1) than in 2020-21 (16.4:1).
Conversations here can range across school safety, transportation, and start times. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.
Matanuska-Susitna Borough at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
112,988
Census ACS
Median income
$94,031
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
24%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
49
19,495 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District
- Mat-Su Central SchoolCombined · 2,780 students
- Colony High SchoolHigh · 1,046 students
- Wasilla High SchoolHigh · 816 students
- Mat-Su Career & Tech Ed High SchoolHigh · 705 students
- Teeland Middle SchoolElementary · 643 students
- Palmer High SchoolHigh · 616 students
Other schools in Palmer
- Colony High SchoolHigh · 1,046 students
- Palmer High SchoolHigh · 616 students
- Palmer Middle SchoolMiddle · 563 students
- Pioneer Peak ElementaryElementary · 449 students
- Birchtree Charter SchoolElementary · 416 students
- Sherrod ElementaryElementary · 383 students
Nearby schools
- Colony High School0.3 mi · 1,046
- Pioneer Peak Elementary0.9 mi · 449
- Birchtree Charter School1.9 mi · 416
- Valley Pathways2.1 mi · 143
- Mat-Su Middle College School2.1 mi · 222
- Palmer High School2.7 mi · 616
Frequently asked questions
About Colony Middle SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Colony Middle School?
Colony Middle School enrolls approximately 771 students in grades PK-08.
What age range does Colony Middle School serve?
Colony Middle School serves students from grade PK through grade 08.
How many students per teacher at Colony Middle School?
Approximately 20.8:1 students per teacher at Colony Middle School.
What is the student diversity at Colony Middle School?
Student demographics at Colony Middle School are roughly 69% White, 7% Hispanic, 1% Black, 1% Asian, 17% Two or more.
What district is Colony Middle School in?
Colony Middle School is part of Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.