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Parents: what's one thing you'd want the Milton M. Somers Middle School administration to hear?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
671
Middle
DISTRICT 689 · STATE 764
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CHARLES COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 240027000601
Milton M. Somers Middle School
300 Willow Lane, La Plata, MD 20646 · (301) 934-4663 · Charles County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE31-TOWNTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL671 STUDENTS
B-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 53% of Maryland public middle schools
- BTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- C+Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Maryland public middle schools
Student : Teacher
13.7:1
49 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.3:1 · STATE 14.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
43%
290 students
DISTRICT 51% · STATE 54%
Community
5
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 6 | 218 | 32% |
| Grade 7 | 230 | 34% |
| Grade 8 | 223 | 33% |
Student demographics
66%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 61% · STATE 73% · 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
MCAP 2024-25 . % Proficient (Levels 3-4)English Language Arts
62.8%
MD avg 50.6% . +11.2pp since 2023
Math
25.0%
MD avg 34.8% . +3.1pp since 2023
What this means: On the MCAP, Maryland's statewide test, about 63 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 25 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Maryland schools, those numbers are about 51 and 35. Reading and writing scores are up about 11 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 3 points.
MCAP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 62.8% | 25.0% |
| 2023-24 | 51.6% | 21.9% |
% Proficient (Levels 3-4), all students and all tested grades.
Source: MCAP. 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
40.3%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
48.6%
based on MD schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-8.3pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 40% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 49% typical for Maryland 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 Maryland'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 Milton M. Somers Middle School
Milton M. Somers Middle School's state test result (40.3% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Milton M. Somers Middle School this school | 671 | 43.2% | 40.3% |
| Wilde Lake Middle Columbia | 643 | 39.0% | 40.5% |
| Matthew Henson Middle School Indian Head | 701 | 48.5% | 28.8% |
| Parkville Middle Baltimore | 900 | 45.1% | 36.1% |
| Lake Elkhorn Middle Columbia | 569 | 49.0% | 29.9% |
| Pine Grove Middle Baltimore | 804 | 53.4% | 27.4% |
Matched among Maryland 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 Milton M. Somers Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Maryland | In Charles County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 40.3% | #90 of 223 | #2 of 9 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 25.0% | #106 of 223 ▲ 2 | #3 of 9 ▼ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 62.8% | #63 of 223 ▲ 34 | #1 of 9 ▲ 2 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 671 | #153 of 230 | #6 of 9 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 13.7:1 | #79 of 225 | #3 of 9 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 65.9% | #82 of 225 | #2 of 9 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 43.2% | #145 of 227 | #7 of 9 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -31.9% | #2 of 123 | N/A |
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
671
-378 (-36%) vs 2020
-17% since 1990-91, when it was 813
Student : Teacher
13.7:1
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 | 671 | 49 | 13.7:1 | 43% (290) |
| 2023-24 | 659 | 50.5 | 13.1:1 | 37% (247) |
| 2022-23 | 666 | 51.3 | 13.0:1 | 39% (257) |
| 2020-21 | 1,049 | 64 | 16.4:1 | 28% (296) |
| 2017-18 | 986 | 66 | 14.9:1 | 17% (166) |
| 2015-16 | 996 | 62 | 16.1:1 | 22% (219) |
| 2010-11 | 851 | 93 | 9.2:1 | 18% (152) |
| 2000-01 | 987 | 52 | 19.0:1 | 19% (185) |
| 1990-91 | 813 | 47 | 17.3:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Milton M. Somers Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students down 32% (986 to 671); teachers down 26% (66 to 49).
About Milton M. Somers Middle School
Milton M. Somers Middle School is a middle school with a street address in La Plata, Maryland. It teaches 671 students in grades 6 through 8.
District-wide, Charles County Public Schools has 38 schools and 28,162 students.
Black students make up 49% of enrollment at Milton M. Somers Middle School, the largest share of any group. The remaining shares are 28% White, 11% Hispanic, 6% multiracial, and 5% Asian. That is in line with Charles County, where about 49% of residents are Black. On a 0 to 100 scale, the school's diversity index is 66, compared with 70 nationally.
Based on 49 full-time-equivalent teachers, Milton M. Somers Middle School has a ratio of 13.7:1. The average for middle schools in Maryland is about 14.3:1. Income data for the school show 43% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.
Among Maryland public middle schools, Milton M. Somers Middle School outscored 53%, which works out to a B- on the allk12 Grade.
Milton M. Somers Middle School's average proficiency rate across its state test results of 40.3% is 8.3 points below the 48.6% the model predicts from its lunch-eligibility share.
The county, Charles County, is where the school is located. Median household income comes to about $122,816, 34% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 5% of people live in poverty. The county has 40 public schools and about 28,162 students.
Among nearby public schools, Walter J. Mitchell Elementary School is closest at about 0.4 miles. Other public schools within five miles number 7. The nearest schools with test data average 37.7%, lower than Milton M. Somers Middle School's 40.3%.
The federal government classifies Milton M. Somers Middle School's location as Town: Fringe.
The school shrank from 1,049 students in 2020-21 to 671 in 2024-25. The student-to-teacher ratio went down from 16.4:1 to 13.7:1.
This page is a place to ask questions and share updates about athletics, class schedules, and weather closures at Milton M. Somers Middle School. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to post.
Charles County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
170,527
Census ACS
Median income
$122,816
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
34%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
5%
Below federal line
Schools in county
40
28,162 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Charles County Public Schools
- North Point High SchoolHigh · 1,960 students
- St. Charles High SchoolHigh · 1,617 students
- Thomas Stone High SchoolHigh · 1,230 students
- La Plata High SchoolHigh · 1,217 students
- Westlake High SchoolHigh · 1,216 students
- Maurice J. McDonough High SchoolHigh · 1,163 students
Other schools in La Plata
- La Plata High SchoolHigh · 1,217 students
- Walter J. Mitchell Elementary SchoolElementary · 663 students
- Mary H. Matula Elementary SchoolElementary · 610 students
- Phoenix International School of the ArtsMiddle · 243 students
- F. B. Gwynn Educational CenterElementary
Nearby schools
- Walter J. Mitchell Elementary School0.4 mi · 663
- Phoenix International School of the Arts0.8 mi · 243
- Mary H. Matula Elementary School1.9 mi · 610
- La Plata High School2.0 mi · 1,217
- Maurice J. McDonough High School4.0 mi · 1,163
- Dr. James Craik Elementary School4.4 mi · 520
Frequently asked questions
About Milton M. Somers Middle SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Milton M. Somers Middle School?
Milton M. Somers Middle School enrolls approximately 671 students in grades 06-08.
What grades does Milton M. Somers Middle School serve?
Milton M. Somers Middle School serves grades 06-08.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Milton M. Somers Middle School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Milton M. Somers Middle School is approximately 13.7:1 (49 FTE teachers).
How diverse is Milton M. Somers Middle School?
Milton M. Somers Middle School reports a student body of 28% White, 11% Hispanic, 49% Black, 5% Asian, 6% Two or more.
What district is Milton M. Somers Middle School in?
Milton M. Somers Middle School is part of Charles County Public Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.