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If you could change one rule at Big Spring MS, what would it be?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
550
Middle
DISTRICT 469 · STATE 594
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·BIG SPRING SD·NCES 420366006326
Big Spring Middle School
43 Mount Rock Rd, Newville, PA 17241 · (717) 776-2471 · Cumberland County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE41-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL550 STUDENTS
B
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 57% of Pennsylvania public middle schools
- BTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- B-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 Pennsylvania public middle schools
Student : Teacher
12.2:1
45 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 12.2:1 · STATE 13.2:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
42%
231 students
DISTRICT 46% · 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, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 191 | 35% |
| Grade 7 | 168 | 31% |
| Grade 8 | 189 | 34% |
| Grade 9 | 2 | 0% |
Student demographics
16%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 17% · STATE 59% · 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
Big Spring Middle School→Big Spring High School
Feeds from
Based on grade levels within Big Spring SD. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
PSSA + Keystone 2024-25 . % Proficient or AdvancedEnglish Language Arts
61.6%
PA avg 51.1% . +2.1pp since 2023
Math
42.9%
PA avg 43.0% . +5.3pp since 2023
What this means: On the PSSA + Keystone, Pennsylvania's statewide test, about 62 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 43 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Pennsylvania schools, those numbers are about 51 and 43. Reading and writing scores are up about 2 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 5 points.
PSSA + Keystone results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 61.6% | 42.9% |
| 2023-24 | 59.5% | 37.6% |
% Proficient or Advanced, all students and all tested grades.
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
52.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
59.6%
based on PA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-7.5pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 52% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 60% 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 →
Schools most like Big Spring Middle School
Big Spring Middle School's state test result (52.1% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Big Spring Middle School this school | 550 | 42.0% | 52.1% |
| Elizabeth Forward Middle School Elizabeth | 538 | 40.9% | 52.4% |
| Blue Mountain Middle School Orwigsburg | 561 | 39.6% | 46.0% |
| Shaler Area Middle School Glenshaw | 589 | 41.1% | 47.2% |
| James W Parker Middle School Edinboro | 652 | 39.4% | 64.0% |
| West Hempfield Middle School Irwin | 546 | 47.1% | 52.8% |
Matched among Pennsylvania 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 Big Spring Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Pennsylvania | In Cumberland County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 52.1% | #187 of 479 | #5 of 11 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 42.9% | #177 of 513 ▲ 59 | #4 of 11 ▲ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 61.6% | #132 of 513 ▲ 81 | #4 of 11 ▲ 4 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 550 | #265 of 522 | #7 of 11 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 12.2:1 | #174 of 486 | #3 of 11 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 15.8% | #419 of 486 | #11 of 11 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 42.0% | #328 of 510 | #6 of 11 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -6.6% | #234 of 332 | #5 of 7 |
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
550
-31 (-5%) vs 2020
-22% since 1990-91, when it was 704
Student : Teacher
12.2:1
was 12.4:1
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 | 550 | 45.1 | 12.2:1 | 42% (231) |
| 2023-24 | 543 | 46.7 | 11.6:1 | 43% (231) |
| 2022-23 | 593 | 43.8 | 13.5:1 | 44% (261) |
| 2020-21 | 581 | 47 | 12.4:1 | 41% (241) |
| 2017-18 | 589 | 48 | 12.3:1 | 38% (225) |
| 2015-16 | 581 | 48 | 12.1:1 | 33% (194) |
| 2010-11 | 694 | 51 | 13.6:1 | 29% (198) |
| 2000-01 | 740 | 54 | 13.7:1 | 19% (141) |
| 1990-91 | 704 | 45 | 15.6:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Big Spring Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students down 7% (589 to 550); teachers down 6% (48 to 45.1).
About Big Spring Middle School
Big Spring Middle School is a public mid-sized middle school in Newville, Pennsylvania. Enrollment totals 550 students across grades 6 through 8.
In Big Spring SD, 5 schools enroll a combined 2,344 students.
At Big Spring Middle School, 92% of students are White. The remaining students are 4% multiracial and 3% Hispanic. Census figures show Cumberland County is about 82% White. On the diversity index, which measures the chance that two random students are from different groups, Big Spring Middle School scores 16%.
Big Spring Middle School reported 45.1 full-time-equivalent teachers in 2024-25, a ratio of 12.2:1. By comparison, the average for middle schools in Pennsylvania is 13.2:1. There are 231 students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, 42% of enrollment. The figure for public schools in Cumberland County is close, at 41%.
Big Spring Middle School holds a B allk12 Grade, placing it above 57% of Pennsylvania public middle schools.
Big Spring Middle School is 7.5 points below its predicted average proficiency rate across its state test results (52.1% versus 59.6%), which places it in neither the top nor the bottom 10% in Pennsylvania.
In the wider Cumberland County area, median household income comes to about $87,494, roughly 40% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 5%. Cumberland County counts 57 public schools with about 33,044 students.
Mount Rock Elementary School, about 0.1 miles away, is the closest public school. A five-mile radius around the school includes 4 other public schools. By average proficiency, Big Spring Middle School is 5th among 9 schools close by.
Big Spring Middle School is coded as Rural: Fringe in federal locale data.
Enrollment decreased 5% over 4 years, reaching 550 in 2024-25.
This page collects posts and questions about Big Spring Middle School, such as open houses, carpools, and field trips. Current and former families are welcome to add their experience.
Cumberland County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
268,323
Census ACS
Median income
$87,494
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
40%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
5%
Below federal line
Schools in county
57
33,044 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Big Spring SD
- Big Spring High SchoolHigh · 764 students
- Newville Elementary SchoolElementary · 351 students
- Oak Flat Elementary SchoolElementary · 348 students
- Mount Rock Elementary SchoolElementary · 331 students
Other schools in Newville
- Big Spring High SchoolHigh · 764 students
- Newville Elementary SchoolElementary · 351 students
- Oak Flat Elementary SchoolElementary · 348 students
- Mount Rock Elementary SchoolElementary · 331 students
Nearby schools
- Mount Rock Elementary School0.1 mi · 331
- Big Spring High School0.4 mi · 764
- Newville Elementary School1.1 mi · 351
- Oak Flat Elementary School1.3 mi · 348
- North Dickinson Elementary School7.3 mi · 193
- Carlisle Area High School9.6 mi · 1,559
Frequently asked questions
About Big Spring Middle SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Big Spring Middle School?
Big Spring Middle School enrolls approximately 550 students in grades 06-08.
What grades does Big Spring Middle School serve?
Big Spring Middle School serves grades 06-08.
How many teachers does Big Spring Middle School have?
Big Spring Middle School employs 45 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 12.2:1.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Big Spring Middle School?
At Big Spring Middle School, the student body is approximately 92% White, 3% Hispanic, 1% Black, 1% Asian, 4% Two or more.
What district is Big Spring Middle School in?
Big Spring Middle School is part of Big Spring SD.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.