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Alumni: what's one memory from Central Middle School that still sticks with you?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
790
Middle
DISTRICT 849 · STATE 594
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·BARTHOLOMEW CON SCHOOL CORP·NCES 180036000063
Central Middle School
725 7th St, Columbus, IN 47201 · (812) 376-4287 · Bartholomew County
GRADES 07–08MIDDLE13-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL790 STUDENTS
C
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 33% of Indiana public middle schools
- C+Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- CBeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Indiana public middle schools
Student : Teacher
15.3:1
52 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.5:1 · STATE 15.6:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
45%
359 students
DISTRICT 45% · STATE 50%
Community
6
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other middle schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 7 | 386 | 49% |
| Grade 8 | 404 | 51% |
Student demographics
55%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 55% · STATE 57% · 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
ILEARN 2024-25 . % At or Above ProficiencyEnglish Language Arts
38.0%
IN avg 39.2%
Math
33.3%
IN avg 41.1%
What this means: On the ILEARN, Indiana's statewide test, about 38 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 33 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Indiana schools, those numbers are about 39 and 41.
Source: ILEARN. 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
35.6%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
43.4%
based on IN schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-7.8pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 36% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 43% typical for Indiana 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 Indiana'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 Central Middle School
Central Middle School's state test result (35.6% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Central Middle School this school | 790 | 45.4% | 35.6% |
| Greenwood Middle School Greenwood | 964 | 47.2% | 47.8% |
| Northside Middle School Columbus | 908 | 45.0% | 36.2% |
| Tri-North Middle School Bloomington | 569 | 44.6% | 42.9% |
| Schmucker Middle School Mishawaka | 1,041 | 40.1% | 54.2% |
| LaPorte Middle School LaPorte | 862 | 43.7% | 39.7% |
Matched among Indiana middle 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 Central Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Indiana |
|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 35.6% | #180 of 324 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 33.3% | #182 of 325 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 38.0% | #164 of 325 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 790 | #80 of 334 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 15.3:1 | #172 of 314 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 55.0% | #103 of 315 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 45.4% | #207 of 330 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -6.7% | #129 of 187 |
Ranked against other public middle 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
790
-55 (-7%) vs 2020
-3% since 1990-91, when it was 818
Student : Teacher
15.3:1
was 33.8:1
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 | 790 | 51.7 | 15.3:1 | 45% (359) |
| 2023-24 | 822 | 53.7 | 15.3:1 | 46% (382) |
| 2022-23 | 859 | 56.7 | 15.2:1 | 45% (389) |
| 2020-21 | 845 | 25 | 33.8:1 | 45% (380) |
| 2017-18 | 847 | 37.5 | 22.6:1 | 46% (386) |
| 2015-16 | 786 | 50 | 15.7:1 | 40% (318) |
| 2010-11 | 911 | 43 | 21.2:1 | 38% (348) |
| 2000-01 | 712 | 52 | 13.7:1 | 26% (185) |
| 1990-91 | 818 | 54 | 15.2:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Central Middle School.
About Central Middle School
In Columbus, Indiana, Central Middle School is a mid-sized middle school. It enrolls 790 students in 2024-25. The grades offered are 7 through 8. It has 33% more students than the average for middle schools in Indiana (about 594).
Central Middle School reports to Bartholomew Con School Corp, which has 16 schools and 11,657 students.
More than half of enrollment at Central Middle School is White: 64%. Other groups make up 18% Hispanic, 10% Asian, 5% multiracial, and 3% Black. Bartholomew County as a whole is about 79% White, so the school's share is lower. On the diversity index, which measures the chance that two random students are from different groups, Central Middle School scores 55%.
Central Middle School has a student-to-teacher ratio of 15.3:1, with 51.7 full-time-equivalent teachers. That is in line with the 15.6:1 average for middle schools in Indiana. The school has 45% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. The figure for public schools in Bartholomew County is close, at 44%.
Central Middle School earns a C on the allk12 Grade, which blends test scores, results against poverty-based expectations, and the three-year trend. It scored higher than 33% of Indiana public middle schools.
A school with Central Middle School's lunch-eligibility share in Indiana is predicted to score 43.4%. Central Middle School scores 35.6%, 7.8 points below that line.
For Bartholomew County, Census Bureau data show median household income comes to about $79,901, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 34%, and roughly 7% of residents are in poverty. The county has 20 public schools and about 12,688 students.
Central Middle School is about 0.1 miles from CSA Lincoln Campus, its nearest public school. There are at least 8 other public schools within five miles. Central Middle School's average proficiency of 35.6% compares with 43.2% for its nearest scored neighbors.
The school's setting, by NCES definition, is City: Small: inside a principal city with a population under 100,000.
Federal enrollment counts fell from 845 (2020-21) to 790 (2024-25). Federal data show the ratio falling from 33.8:1 to 15.3:1.
On allk12, people connected to Central Middle School can post about pickup and drop-off, after-school programs, and teacher feedback. Current and former families are welcome to add their experience.
Bartholomew County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
83,536
Census ACS
Median income
$79,901
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
34%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
20
12,688 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Bartholomew Con School Corp
- Columbus North High SchoolHigh · 2,360 students
- Columbus East High SchoolHigh · 1,452 students
- Northside Middle SchoolMiddle · 908 students
- Southside Elementary SchoolElementary · 891 students
- Parkside Elementary SchoolElementary · 733 students
- Clifty Creek Elementary SchoolElementary · 705 students
Other schools in Columbus
- Columbus North High SchoolHigh · 2,360 students
- Columbus East High SchoolHigh · 1,452 students
- Northside Middle SchoolMiddle · 908 students
- Southside Elementary SchoolElementary · 891 students
- Parkside Elementary SchoolElementary · 733 students
- Clifty Creek Elementary SchoolElementary · 705 students
Other Central Middle schools
49 other US public schools in 25 states are named Central Middle. Central Middle School is the 12th largest of the 50.
- Central Middle SchoolKokomo, IN · 451 students
- CENTRAL MIDDLE SCHOOLEDEN PRAIRIE, MN · 1,860 students
- Central Middle SchoolReading, PA · 1,785 students
- Central MiddleEdgewater, MD · 1,204 students
- Central Middle SchoolWESLACO, TX · 1,060 students
Nearby schools
- CSA Lincoln Campus0.1 mi · 357
- Richard L Johnson Early Educ Cntr0.4 mi · 80
- Excel Center - Bartholomew County0.5 mi · 49
- Columbus North High School1.4 mi · 2,360
- CSA Fodrea Campus1.4 mi · 351
- Lillian Schmitt Elementary School1.5 mi · 704
Frequently asked questions
About Central Middle SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Central Middle School?
Central Middle School enrolls approximately 790 students in grades 07-08.
What grades does Central Middle School serve?
Central Middle School serves grades 07-08.
How many students per teacher at Central Middle School?
Approximately 15.3:1 students per teacher at Central Middle School.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Central Middle School?
At Central Middle School, the student body is approximately 64% White, 18% Hispanic, 3% Black, 10% Asian, 5% Two or more.
Is Central Middle School public or private?
Central Middle School is a public K-12 school, overseen by Bartholomew Con School Corp.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.