1
Welcome to the Portsmouth Middle School community. What's one thing that would make Portsmouth Middle School even better?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
486
Middle
DISTRICT 405 · STATE 379
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·PORTSMOUTH SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 330582000378
Portsmouth Middle School
155 Parrott Ave., Portsmouth, NH 03801 · (603) 436-5781 · Rockingham County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE23-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL486 STUDENTS
A
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 91% of New Hampshire public middle schools
- ATest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- A+Beats 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 New Hampshire public middle schools
Student : Teacher
10.3:1
47 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 8.9:1 · STATE 11.1:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
17%
84 students
DISTRICT 18% · STATE 26%
Community
1
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 | 160 | 33% |
| Grade 7 | 160 | 33% |
| Grade 8 | 166 | 34% |
Student demographics
42%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 37% · STATE 33% · 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
School pathway
Students here typically continue to
Portsmouth Middle School→Portsmouth High School
Based on grade levels within Portsmouth School District. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
NHSAS 2024-25 . % Above ProficientEnglish Language Arts
72.0%
NH avg 55.2%
Math
61.0%
NH avg 43.0%
What this means: On the NHSAS, New Hampshire's statewide test, about 72 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 61 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all New Hampshire schools, those numbers are about 55 and 43.
Source: NHSAS. 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
64.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
52.4%
based on NH schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+11.7pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 64% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 52% typical for New Hampshire 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 New Hampshire'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 Portsmouth Middle School
Portsmouth Middle School's state test result (64.1% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portsmouth Middle School this school | 486 | 17.3% | 64.1% |
| Oyster River Middle School Durham | 585 | 10.4% | 67.4% |
| Hudson Memorial School Hudson | 648 | 18.4% | 47.8% |
| Dover Middle School Dover | 941 | 24.7% | 46.0% |
| Hampton Academy Hampton | 313 | 19.5% | 61.3% |
| Lebanon Middle School Lebanon | 464 | 25.2% | 50.7% |
Matched among New Hampshire 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 Portsmouth Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In New Hampshire | In Rockingham County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 64.1% | #12 of 85 | #4 of 16 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 61.0% | #14 of 85 | #4 of 16 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 72.0% | #12 of 85 | #4 of 16 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 486 | #28 of 101 | #8 of 19 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 10.3:1 | #29 of 74 | #7 of 16 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 42.1% | #11 of 74 | #1 of 16 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 17.3% | #60 of 90 | #10 of 18 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -9.3% | #42 of 57 | #10 of 13 |
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
486
-39 (-7%) vs 2020
-11% since 1990-91, when it was 546
Student : Teacher
10.3:1
was 10.1:1
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 | 486 | 47 | 10.3:1 | 17% (84) |
| 2023-24 | 472 | 47 | 10.0:1 | 14% (66) |
| 2022-23 | 499 | 47.5 | 10.5:1 | 16% (80) |
| 2020-21 | 525 | 52 | 10.1:1 | 13% (68) |
| 2017-18 | 536 | 52 | 10.3:1 | 16% (88) |
| 2015-16 | 529 | 53 | 10.0:1 | 16% (87) |
| 2010-11 | 485 | 50 | 9.7:1 | 32% (157) |
| 2000-01 | 551 | 51 | 10.8:1 | 28% (156) |
| 1990-91 | 546 | 46 | 11.9:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Portsmouth Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students down 9% (536 to 486); teachers down 10% (52 to 47).
About Portsmouth Middle School
Portsmouth Middle School is a public middle school in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The school counts 486 students across grades 6 through 8. The school's enrollment is 28% larger than the 379 average for middle schools in New Hampshire.
Portsmouth School District enrolls 2,427 students, and its 6 schools include Portsmouth Middle School.
White students make up a majority at Portsmouth Middle School, at 75%. The remaining students are 11% multiracial, 8% Asian, and 5% Hispanic. Census figures show Rockingham County is about 91% White. Portsmouth Middle School's diversity index is 42%, against a US figure of 70%.
The school has about 10.3 students per teacher and 47 full-time-equivalent teachers. The school has fewer students per teacher than the 11.1:1 average for middle schools in New Hampshire. About 17% of enrolled students meet the income rules for free or reduced-price lunch.
Measured against New Hampshire public middle schools, Portsmouth Middle School receives an A. The grade weighs proficiency most heavily, then how results compare with what the school's low-income share predicts, then the three-year change.
Portsmouth Middle School is 11.7 points above its predicted average proficiency rate on state tests (64.1% versus 52.4%), which places it in neither the top nor the bottom 10% in New Hampshire.
Recent Census Bureau figures for Rockingham County show that the median household income is $118,331, roughly 46% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 3%. Portsmouth Middle School is one of 99 public schools in the county.
Little Harbour School is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.6 miles away. The five-mile area around Portsmouth Middle School holds at least 8 other public schools. Portsmouth Middle School ranks 5th of 5 among nearby schools on average proficiency, with 64.1% against a local average of 74.1%.
Locale data from NCES put Portsmouth Middle School in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population under 100,000 (Suburb: Small).
Portsmouth Middle School's enrollment declined from 525 in 2020-21 to 486 in 2024-25.
Topics for discussion here include school events, clubs, and volunteer needs. Alumni can share how the school prepared them.
Rockingham County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
319,082
Census ACS
Median income
$118,331
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
46%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
3%
Below federal line
Schools in county
99
41,753 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Portsmouth School District
- Portsmouth High SchoolHigh · 1,017 students
- Mary C. Dondero Elementary SchoolElementary · 328 students
- Little Harbour SchoolElementary · 325 students
- New Franklin SchoolElementary · 247 students
- PEEP School - Pre School ProgramElementary · 24 students
Other schools in Portsmouth
- Portsmouth High SchoolHigh · 1,017 students
- Mary C. Dondero Elementary SchoolElementary · 328 students
- Little Harbour SchoolElementary · 325 students
- New Franklin SchoolElementary · 247 students
- PEEP School - Pre School ProgramElementary · 24 students
Other Portsmouth Middle schools
One other US public school is named Portsmouth Middle. Portsmouth Middle School is the 2nd largest of the 2.
- Portsmouth Middle SchoolPortsmouth, RI · 604 students
Nearby schools
- Little Harbour School0.6 mi · 325
- PEEP School - Pre School Program0.6 mi · 24
- New Franklin School0.9 mi · 247
- Portsmouth High School1.0 mi · 1,017
- Robert W Traip Academy1.4 mi · 294
- Maude H. Trefethen School1.9 mi · 33
Frequently asked questions
About Portsmouth Middle SchoolHow large is Portsmouth Middle School?
Portsmouth Middle School enrolls approximately 486 students in grades 06-08.
What age range does Portsmouth Middle School serve?
Portsmouth Middle School serves students from grade 06 through grade 08.
How many students per teacher at Portsmouth Middle School?
Approximately 10.3:1 students per teacher at Portsmouth Middle School.
How diverse is Portsmouth Middle School?
Portsmouth Middle School reports a student body of 75% White, 5% Hispanic, 1% Black, 8% Asian, 11% Two or more.
Who oversees Portsmouth Middle School?
Portsmouth Middle School is overseen by Portsmouth School District in Rockingham County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.