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What's the most underrated thing about Catasauqua MS that outsiders don't know?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
477
Middle
DISTRICT 511 · STATE 594
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CATASAUQUA AREA SD·NCES 420516002797
Catasauqua Middle School
850 Pine street, Catasauqua, PA 18032 · (610) 264-4341 · Lehigh County
GRADES 05–08MIDDLE21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL477 STUDENTS
C+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 39% of Pennsylvania public middle schools
- C-Test 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
14.9:1
32 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.3:1 · STATE 13.2:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
98%
468 students
DISTRICT 98% · 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 5 | 121 | 25% |
| Grade 6 | 112 | 23% |
| Grade 7 | 116 | 24% |
| Grade 8 | 128 | 27% |
Student demographics
63%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 63% · 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
Catasauqua Middle School→Catasauqua SHS
Based on grade levels within Catasauqua Area SD. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
PSSA + Keystone 2024-25 . % Proficient or AdvancedEnglish Language Arts
36.7%
PA avg 51.1% . -5.7pp since 2023
Math
29.0%
PA avg 43.0% . +1.6pp since 2023
What this means: On the PSSA + Keystone, Pennsylvania's statewide test, about 37 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 29 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Pennsylvania schools, those numbers are about 51 and 43. Reading and writing scores are down about 6 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 2 points.
PSSA + Keystone results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 36.7% | 29.0% |
| 2023-24 | 42.4% | 27.4% |
% 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
34.6%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
35.5%
based on PA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-0.9pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 35% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 36% 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 Catasauqua Middle School
Catasauqua Middle School's state test result (34.6% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Catasauqua Middle School this school | 477 | 98.1% | 34.6% |
| Governor Mifflin Middle School Shillington | 631 | 94.5% | 36.7% |
| Intermediate School Shillington | 623 | 97.8% | 40.9% |
| Penn's Grove School Oxford | 528 | 91.9% | 46.0% |
| Pocono Mountain East Junior High School Swiftwater | 505 | 99.4% | 41.3% |
| Swiftwater Interm School Swiftwater | 737 | 99.6% | 47.4% |
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 Catasauqua Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Pennsylvania | In Lehigh County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 34.6% | #388 of 479 | #12 of 16 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 29.0% | #344 of 513 ▲ 25 | #11 of 17 ▲ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 36.7% | #402 of 513 no change | #12 of 17 no change |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 477 | #318 of 522 | #12 of 17 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.9:1 | #400 of 486 | #15 of 17 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 62.8% | #64 of 486 | #4 of 17 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 98.1% | #107 of 510 | #5 of 17 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -2.5% | #293 of 332 | #10 of 11 |
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
477
+32 (+7%) vs 2020
-9% since 1990-91, when it was 525
Student : Teacher
14.9:1
was 14.8:1
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 | 477 | 32 | 14.9:1 | 98% (468) |
| 2023-24 | 468 | 33 | 14.2:1 | 100% (468) |
| 2022-23 | 448 | 31.8 | 14.1:1 | 100% (448) |
| 2020-21 | 445 | 30 | 14.8:1 | 50% (222) |
| 2017-18 | 489 | 28.1 | 17.4:1 | 55% (269) |
| 2015-16 | 447 | 25 | 17.9:1 | 57% (255) |
| 2010-11 | 520 | 40 | 13.0:1 | 37% (190) |
| 2000-01 | 544 | 38 | 14.3:1 | 20% (107) |
| 1990-91 | 525 | 35 | 15.0:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Catasauqua Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students down 2% (489 to 477); teachers up 14% (28.1 to 32).
About Catasauqua Middle School
Catasauqua Middle School is a middle school in Catasauqua, Pennsylvania, according to federal school records. The school serves 477 students in grades 5 through 8 in 2024-25.
Within Catasauqua Area SD, Catasauqua Middle School is one of 3 schools. The district enrolls 1,533 students.
Catasauqua Middle School has no majority group; White students are the largest, at 47%. The remaining students are 38% Hispanic, 7% Black, and 7% multiracial. Among people living in Lehigh County, the White share is about 62%. Catasauqua Middle School's diversity index is 63%, against a US figure of 70%.
Its teaching staff equals 32 full-time positions, a ratio of 14.9:1. That is higher than the 13.2:1 average for middle schools in Pennsylvania. Free and reduced-price lunch eligibility, a common measure of family income, is 98%. The average for public schools in Lehigh County is 70%.
allk12 grades Catasauqua Middle School a C+. The grade compares the school only with Pennsylvania public middle schools, because each state gives its own test.
The BeatsExpectations prediction for Catasauqua Middle School is 35.5%, and its average proficiency rate on state tests is 34.6%.
In Lehigh County (population about 378,792), the median household income is $80,079, 34% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 8% of people live in poverty. Catasauqua Middle School is one of 83 public schools in the county.
The next-closest public school is Francis H Sheckler Elementary School, about 0.4 miles away. The count of other public schools within five miles is at least 8. Of 8 schools in the immediate area with test results, Catasauqua Middle School ranks 7th on average proficiency.
Catasauqua Middle School has an NCES locale of Suburb: Large.
Federal data show a 7% enrollment increase, from 445 in 2020-21 to 477 in 2024-25.
Parents and students can post about sports schedules, lunch menus, and spirit week at Catasauqua Middle School. Questions from prospective families are welcome too.
Lehigh County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
378,792
Census ACS
Median income
$80,079
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
34%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
8%
Below federal line
Schools in county
83
56,984 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Catasauqua Area SD
- Francis H Sheckler Elementary SchoolElementary · 589 students
- Catasauqua SHSHigh · 467 students
Other schools in Catasauqua
- Francis H Sheckler Elementary SchoolElementary · 589 students
- Innovative Arts Academy CSHigh · 477 students
Nearby schools
- Francis H Sheckler Elementary School0.4 mi · 589
- Innovative Arts Academy CS0.4 mi · 477
- Catasauqua SHS1.4 mi · 467
- George D Steckel Elementary School2.0 mi · 561
- Clarence M Gockley Elementary School2.0 mi · 574
- Whitehall-Coplay Middle School2.1 mi · 975
Frequently asked questions
About Catasauqua Middle SchoolHow large is Catasauqua Middle School?
Catasauqua Middle School enrolls approximately 477 students in grades 05-08.
Is Catasauqua Middle School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Catasauqua Middle School is a middle school covering grades 05-08.
How many students per teacher at Catasauqua Middle School?
Approximately 14.9:1 students per teacher at Catasauqua Middle School.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Catasauqua Middle School?
At Catasauqua Middle School, the student body is approximately 47% White, 38% Hispanic, 7% Black, 1% Asian, 7% Two or more.
Is Catasauqua Middle School public or private?
Catasauqua Middle School is a public K-12 school, overseen by Catasauqua Area SD.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.