Needles Middle

Needles Middle is one of the one-room-style middle schools in Needles, California, part of Needles Unified, with 196 students on its rolls from grades 6 through 8. Compared to the state average of about 659 students per school, that is 70% leaner than typical.

Needles Unified comprises 7 schools with combined enrollment of 921 students; Needles Middle is among them.

Looking at the student body, Needles Middle lists that the largest single group is White at 42%, but no single group is in the majority. Other groups include 37% Hispanic, 11% Native American, 8% multiracial. The wider county runs roughly 33% White, putting the school's mix meaningfully more White than the area baseline.

In terms of school funding signals, Staff filings list 11 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 17.3:1 students per teacher. The state averages around 20.7:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. About 83% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. That share is north of San Bernardino County's rate of about 74%.

On a demographically-adjusted basis, Needles Middle performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 29.9%, the actual is 23.5%, a residual of -6.5 points.

In the area at large, ACS estimates for San Bernardino County put median household income runs about $85,478, 23% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 11%. Needles Middle is one of 583 public schools in San Bernardino County (combined enrollment of about 393,648 students).

Nearest neighbor: Vista Colorado Elementary, around 0.0 miles off. 7 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius.

Needles Middle operates from a town-center location.

Looking at the recent track record. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Needles Middle has declined 20%, going from 244 students in 2018 to 196 in 2025. The Hispanic share of enrollment rose from 27% to 37% over that span. The student-to-teacher ratio narrowed from 22.5:1 in 2018 to 17.3:1 today.

On this page, recent activity here tends to focus on enrollment questions, classroom assignments, and PTA news. Members of the school community can share what they know.