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Alumni: what's one memory from Carl Sandburg Middle School that still sticks with you?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
926
Middle
DISTRICT 906 · STATE 578
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·OLD BRIDGE TOWNSHIP SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 340927003500
Carl Sandburg Middle School
3439 ROUTE 516, OLD BRIDGE, NJ 08857 · (732) 360-4400 · Middlesex County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE21-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL926 STUDENTS
B
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 59% of New Jersey public middle schools
- BTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- BBeats 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 New Jersey public middle schools
Student : Teacher
11.3:1
82 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 11.3:1 · STATE 10.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
31%
284 students
DISTRICT 28% · STATE 41%
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 | 302 | 33% |
| Grade 7 | 294 | 32% |
| Grade 8 | 330 | 36% |
Student demographics
69%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 64% · 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
School pathway
Students here typically continue to
Carl Sandburg Middle School→Old Bridge High School
Based on grade levels within Old Bridge Township School District. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
NJSLA 2024-25 . % Meeting or Exceeding ExpectationsEnglish Language Arts
62.2%
NJ avg 53.1% . +6.1pp since 2023
Math
47.4%
NJ avg 41.6% . +6.1pp since 2023
What this means: On the NJSLA, New Jersey's statewide test, about 62 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 47 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all New Jersey schools, those numbers are about 53 and 42. Reading and writing scores are up about 6 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 6 points.
NJSLA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 62.2% | 47.4% |
| 2023-24 | 56.1% | 41.3% |
% Meeting or Exceeding Expectations, all students and all tested grades.
Source: NJSLA. 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
48.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
49.4%
based on NJ schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-0.4pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 49% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 49% typical for New Jersey 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 Jersey'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 Carl Sandburg Middle School
Carl Sandburg Middle School's state test result (48.9% proficient) is higher than 5 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carl Sandburg Middle School this school | 926 | 30.7% | 48.9% |
| John A. Carusi Middle School CHERRY HILL | 859 | 38.5% | 38.1% |
| Mount Olive Middle School BUDD LAKE | 1,137 | 23.9% | 46.4% |
| Colonia Middle School COLONIA | 628 | 30.7% | 39.4% |
| Lawrence Intermediate School LAWRENCEVILLE | 775 | 38.2% | 40.7% |
| Hartford Upper Elementary School MOUNT LAUREL | 926 | 21.3% | 48.4% |
Matched among New Jersey 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 Carl Sandburg Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In New Jersey | In Middlesex County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 48.9% | #182 of 433 | #13 of 39 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 47.4% | #190 of 437 ▲ 16 | #13 of 39 ▲ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 62.2% | #207 of 437 ▲ 20 | #13 of 39 ▲ 1 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 926 | #56 of 445 | #13 of 40 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 11.3:1 | #255 of 417 | #24 of 39 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 69.1% | #54 of 419 | #15 of 40 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 30.7% | #228 of 436 | #29 of 40 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -12.6% | #120 of 282 | #9 of 23 |
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
926
-55 (-6%) vs 2020
-2% since 1990-91, when it was 947
Student : Teacher
11.3:1
was 11.0:1
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 | 926 | 82.2 | 11.3:1 | 31% (284) |
| 2023-24 | 957 | 85.8 | 11.2:1 | 29% (277) |
| 2022-23 | 981 | 93.6 | 10.5:1 | 27% (262) |
| 2020-21 | 981 | 89 | 11.0:1 | 27% (261) |
| 2017-18 | 1,060 | 88.9 | 11.9:1 | 28% (300) |
| 2015-16 | 1,147 | 92 | 12.5:1 | 29% (330) |
| 2010-11 | 1,250 | 88 | 14.2:1 | 23% (290) |
| 2000-01 | 1,266 | 86 | 14.7:1 | 22% (279) |
| 1990-91 | 947 | 83 | 11.4:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Carl Sandburg Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students down 13% (1,060 to 926); teachers down 8% (88.9 to 82.2).
About Carl Sandburg Middle School
Carl Sandburg Middle School is classified as a middle school. It is located in OLD BRIDGE, New Jersey. The latest federal count shows 926 students in grades 6 through 8. The average for middle schools in New Jersey is about 578 students, so this school is 60% bigger than average.
Carl Sandburg Middle School is among 14 schools run by Old Bridge Township School District, which serves 7,921 students.
Federal enrollment data show White students as the largest group at Carl Sandburg Middle School, at 47%. Other reported shares: 20% Hispanic, 18% Asian, 11% Black, and 3% multiracial. The school's diversity index is 69%, meaning two students picked at random have a 69% chance of belonging to different racial or ethnic groups.
Carl Sandburg Middle School's 82.2 full-time-equivalent teachers put its ratio at 11.3:1. For comparison, middle schools in New Jersey average 10.9:1. The school's rate of free or reduced-price lunch eligibility is 31%. That is 11 points below the 42% average for public schools in Middlesex County.
Carl Sandburg Middle School is graded B by allk12, scoring above 59% of New Jersey public middle schools once test results, poverty-adjusted performance, and the recent trend are combined.
Based on student poverty, the model expects 49.4% at Carl Sandburg Middle School; the school's average proficiency rate on state tests is 48.9%.
Carl Sandburg Middle School is located in Middlesex County, where the median household income is $111,549, about 46% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and the poverty rate is about 6%. Besides Carl Sandburg Middle School, Middlesex County has 213 other public schools.
Alan B. Shepard Elementary School is the closest public school, about 0.6 miles away in a straight line. Other public schools within five miles number at least 8. Among 8 nearby schools that report test results, Carl Sandburg Middle School ranks 6th on proficiency.
Carl Sandburg Middle School is coded as Suburb: Large in federal locale data.
Enrollment has fallen by 55 students since 2020-21, to 926.
The discussion area below is open to posts about sports tryouts, band and choir, and theater. Questions from prospective families are welcome too.
Middlesex County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
871,290
Census ACS
Median income
$111,549
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
46%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
6%
Below federal line
Schools in county
214
129,255 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Old Bridge Township School District
- Old Bridge High SchoolHigh · 2,659 students
- Jonas Salk Middle SchoolMiddle · 886 students
- James A. McDivitt Elementary SchoolElementary · 536 students
- Raymond E. Voorhees Elementary SchoolElementary · 424 students
- Memorial Elementary SchoolElementary · 388 students
- Madison Park Elementary SchoolElementary · 328 students
Other schools in OLD BRIDGE
- Jonas Salk Middle SchoolMiddle · 886 students
- James A. McDivitt Elementary SchoolElementary · 536 students
- Raymond E. Voorhees Elementary SchoolElementary · 424 students
- William A. Miller Elementary SchoolElementary · 314 students
- Alan B. Shepard Elementary SchoolElementary · 276 students
- Walter M. Schirra Elementary SchoolElementary · 268 students
Other Carl Sandburg Middle schools
3 other US public schools in 2 states are named Carl Sandburg Middle. Carl Sandburg Middle School is the largest of the 4.
- Carl Sandburg Middle SchoolMundelein, IL · 529 students
- Carl Sandburg Middle SchoolRolling Meadows, IL · 468 students
- Carl Sandburg Middle SchoolFreeport, IL · 430 students
Nearby schools
- Alan B. Shepard Elementary School0.6 mi · 276
- James A. McDivitt Elementary School0.7 mi · 536
- Walter M. Schirra Elementary School0.8 mi · 268
- Virgil I. Grissom Elementary School1.1 mi · 211
- Old Bridge High School1.7 mi · 2,659
- M. Scott Carpenter Elementary School1.8 mi · 224
Frequently asked questions
About Carl Sandburg Middle SchoolHow large is Carl Sandburg Middle School?
Carl Sandburg Middle School enrolls approximately 926 students in grades 06-08.
What age range does Carl Sandburg Middle School serve?
Carl Sandburg Middle School serves students from grade 06 through grade 08.
How many students per teacher at Carl Sandburg Middle School?
Approximately 11.3:1 students per teacher at Carl Sandburg Middle School.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Carl Sandburg Middle School?
At Carl Sandburg Middle School, the student body is approximately 47% White, 20% Hispanic, 11% Black, 18% Asian, 3% Two or more.
Who oversees Carl Sandburg Middle School?
Carl Sandburg Middle School is overseen by Old Bridge Township School District in Middlesex County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.