1
What's the vibe like in the hallways at Bellefonte Area MS right now?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
591
Middle
DISTRICT 430 · STATE 594
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·BELLEFONTE AREA SD·NCES 420324001342
Bellefonte Area MS
100 N School St, Bellefonte, PA 16823 · (814) 355-5466 · Centre County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE31-TOWNREGULAR SCHOOL591 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
12.3:1
48 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 11.9:1 · STATE 13.2:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
36%
213 students
DISTRICT 33% · STATE 75%
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
Student demographics
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. 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
Bellefonte Area MS→Bellefonte Area HS
Based on grade levels within Bellefonte Area SD. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
PSSA + Keystone 2024-25 . % Proficient or AdvancedEnglish Language Arts
56.5%
PA avg 51.1% . +0.0pp since 2023
Math
40.1%
PA avg 43.0% . -0.9pp since 2023
What this means: On the PSSA + Keystone, Pennsylvania's statewide test, about 57 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 40 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Pennsylvania schools, those numbers are about 51 and 43. Reading and writing scores have held steady since 2023, while math scores have held steady.
Source: PSSA + Keystone. 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
51.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
62.2%
based on PA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-11.0pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 51% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 62% typical for Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania'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 →
7-year change
SY 2017-18 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
591
-58 (-9%) vs 2017
Student : Teacher
12.3:1
was 14.4:1
% White
93%
was 93%
% Hispanic
3%
was 2%
% Black
1%
was 0%
% Asian
1%
was 1%
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
About Bellefonte Area MS
Bellefonte Area MS is a mid-sized junior high in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, one of the schools within Bellefonte Area SD. The school hosts 591 students in grades 6 through 8.
Bellefonte Area SD comprises 6 schools with combined enrollment of 2,579 students; Bellefonte Area MS is among them.
On demographics, Bellefonte Area MS records that the student body is overwhelmingly White (93%); the rest breaks down as 3% Hispanic, 3% multiracial. The wider county runs roughly 84% White, putting the school's mix meaningfully more White than the area baseline.
Looking at school resources, Bellefonte Area MS lists 48 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 12.3:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 13.2:1, putting Bellefonte Area MS tighter than the state norm the norm. About 36% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment.
On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), Bellefonte Area MS performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 62.2%, the actual is 51.1%, a residual of -11.0 points.
In the area at large, community-level numbers for Centre County indicate the typical household earns roughly $74,291 per year, 46% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 6%. Across Centre County's 33 public schools (combined enrollment of about 13,674 students), Bellefonte Area MS is one campus in the mix.
Bellefonte Area HS is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.0 miles from this campus. 7 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Bellefonte Area MS at 6th of 8; the average score across the group is 60.3%.
Bellefonte Area MS operates from a small-town location.
Over the past 7-year window. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Bellefonte Area MS has shrank 9%, going from 649 students in 2018 to 591 in 2025. Class-load math has fell: from 14.4:1 in 2018 to 12.3:1 in 2025.
On this page, posts here usually surface around sports schedules, lunch menu changes, and school spirit week. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.
Centre County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
158,576
Census ACS
Median income
$74,291
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
46%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
6%
Below federal line
Schools in county
33
13,674 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Bellefonte Area SD
- Bellefonte Area HSHigh · 850 students
- Marion-Walker El SchElementary · 353 students
- Bellefonte El SchElementary · 318 students
- Benner El SchElementary · 252 students
- Pleasant Gap El SchElementary · 215 students
Other schools in Bellefonte
- Bellefonte Area HSHigh · 850 students
- Marion-Walker El SchElementary · 353 students
- Bellefonte El SchElementary · 318 students
- Benner El SchElementary · 252 students
Nearby schools
- Bellefonte Area HS0.0 mi · 850
- Bellefonte El Sch1.0 mi · 318
- Central PA Institute of Science and Technology2.4 mi · 5
- Benner El Sch2.9 mi · 252
- Bald Eagle Area MS/SHS3.1 mi · 832
- Wingate El Sch3.1 mi · 365
Frequently asked questions
About Bellefonte Area MSHow many students attend Bellefonte Area MS?
Bellefonte Area MS enrolls approximately 591 students in grades 06-08.
What grades does Bellefonte Area MS serve?
Bellefonte Area MS serves grades 06-08.
How many teachers does Bellefonte Area MS have?
Bellefonte Area MS employs 48 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 12.3:1.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Bellefonte Area MS?
At Bellefonte Area MS, the student body is approximately 93% White, 3% Hispanic, 1% Black, 1% Asian, 3% Two or more.
Is Bellefonte Area MS public or private?
Bellefonte Area MS is a public K-12 school, overseen by Bellefonte Area SD.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.