1
What's the vibe like in the hallways at Central MS right now?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
1,785
Middle
DISTRICT 942 · STATE 594
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·READING SD·NCES 422004006958
Central Middle School
215 North 12th St, Reading, PA 19604 · (484) 258-7365 · Berks County
GRADES 05–08MIDDLE13-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL1,785 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
15.4:1
116 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.4:1 · STATE 13.2:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
96%
1,708 students
DISTRICT 101% · 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 | 479 | 27% |
| Grade 6 | 435 | 24% |
| Grade 7 | 465 | 26% |
| Grade 8 | 406 | 23% |
Student demographics
22%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 22% · 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
Central Middle School→Reading SHS
Based on grade levels within Reading SD. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
PSSA + Keystone 2024-25 . % Proficient or AdvancedEnglish Language Arts
15.3%
PA avg 51.1% . -3.5pp since 2023
Math
5.0%
PA avg 43.0% . +0.7pp since 2023
What this means: On the PSSA + Keystone, Pennsylvania's statewide test, about 15 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 5 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 4 points since 2023, while math scores have held steady.
PSSA + Keystone results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 15.3% | 5.0% |
| 2023-24 | 18.8% | 4.3% |
% 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
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of PA schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
12.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
36.6%
based on PA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-24.5pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 12% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 37% typical for Pennsylvania schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
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 Central Middle School
Central Middle School's state test result (12.1% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Central Middle School this school | 1,785 | 95.7% | 12.1% |
| Maple Manor El/MS Hazle Township | 1,092 | 93.6% | 21.4% |
| Hazleton El/MS Hazleton | 895 | 99.4% | 17.7% |
| South Mountain Middle School Allentown | 972 | 99.4% | 17.1% |
| Harrison-Morton Middle School Allentown | 704 | 94.7% | 12.6% |
| Muhlenberg Jr High School Reading | 1,016 | 99.0% | 27.5% |
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 Central Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Pennsylvania | In Berks County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 12.1% | #469 of 479 | #23 of 23 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 5.0% | #494 of 513 ▲ 2 | #25 of 26 no change |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 15.3% | #496 of 513 no change | #25 of 26 no change |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 1,785 | #3 of 522 | #1 of 26 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 15.4:1 | #425 of 486 | #21 of 26 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 22.3% | #367 of 486 | #23 of 26 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 95.7% | #134 of 510 | #8 of 26 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -24.4% | #37 of 332 | #1 of 15 |
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
1,785
-209 (-10%) vs 2020
-11% since 2010-11, when it was 2,014
Student : Teacher
15.4:1
was 15.2:1
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 | 1,785 | 115.8 | 15.4:1 | 96% (1,708) |
| 2023-24 | 1,708 | 111 | 15.4:1 | 100% (1,708) |
| 2022-23 | 1,865 | 119.8 | 15.6:1 | 100% (1,865) |
| 2020-21 | 1,994 | 131 | 15.2:1 | 100% (1,990) |
| 2017-18 | 2,360 | 151.5 | 15.6:1 | 100% (2,359) |
| 2015-16 | 2,292 | 132 | 17.4:1 | 100% (2,292) |
| 2010-11 | 2,014 | 124 | 16.2:1 | 89% (1,785) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Central Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students down 24% (2,360 to 1,785); teachers down 24% (151.5 to 115.8).
About Central Middle School
Central Middle School is a large middle school located in Reading, Pennsylvania. Enrollment totals 1,785 students across grades 5 through 8. That puts enrollment 201% above the 594-student average for middle schools in Pennsylvania.
Central Middle School is part of a district of 19 schools: Reading SD, with 16,423 students.
Hispanic students are 88% of those enrolled at Central Middle School. The remaining shares are 6% Black and 5% White. Census estimates put the Hispanic share of Berks County's population at about 25%. On a 0 to 100 scale, the school's diversity index is 22, compared with 70 nationally.
Central Middle School lists 115.8 full-time-equivalent teachers; that is about 15.4 students per teacher. The school's 15.4:1 compares with an average of 13.2:1 for middle schools in Pennsylvania. Free or reduced-price lunch covers 96% of the student body. That is 29 points above the 67% average for public schools in Berks County.
BeatsExpectations places Central Middle School in the bottom 10% of Pennsylvania schools. The measure fits a line through proficiency and free or reduced-price lunch share for each state, and this school sits 24.5 points below it (12.1% actual, 36.6% predicted).
In the wider Berks County area, median household income comes to about $79,777, roughly 28% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 9%. Berks County counts 95 public schools with about 62,375 students.
Central Middle School is about 0.3 miles from Thirteenth & Green Elementary School, its nearest public school. Central Middle School has at least 8 other public schools within five miles. Ranking the closest schools with test data puts Central Middle School at 7th of 7.
Central Middle School is coded as City: Small in federal locale data.
By 2024-25, enrollment had dropped to 1,785, from 1,994 in 2020-21.
This page collects posts and questions about Central Middle School, such as open houses, carpools, and field trips. Current and former families are welcome to add their experience.
Berks County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
433,015
Census ACS
Median income
$79,777
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
28%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
9%
Below federal line
Schools in county
95
62,375 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Reading SD
- Reading SHSHigh · 4,879 students
- Northeast Middle SchoolMiddle · 868 students
- Northwest Middle SchoolMiddle · 821 students
- Amanda E Stout Elementary SchoolElementary · 758 students
- Riverside Elementary SchoolElementary · 694 students
- Southern Middle SchoolMiddle · 661 students
Other schools in Reading
- Reading SHSHigh · 4,879 students
- Exeter Twp SHSHigh · 1,312 students
- Muhlenberg El CenterElementary · 1,241 students
- Muhlenberg High SchoolHigh · 1,166 students
- Muhlenberg Jr High SchoolMiddle · 1,016 students
- C E Cole Intermediate SchoolMiddle · 986 students
Other Central Middle schools
49 other US public schools in 25 states are named Central Middle. Central Middle School is the 2nd largest of the 50.
- CENTRAL MIDDLE SCHOOLEDEN PRAIRIE, MN · 1,860 students
- Central MiddleEdgewater, MD · 1,204 students
- Central Middle SchoolWESLACO, TX · 1,060 students
- CENTRAL MIDDLE SCHOOLWEST MELBOURNE, FL · 1,059 students
- Central Middle SchoolEdmond, OK · 1,036 students
Nearby schools
- Thirteenth & Green Elementary School0.3 mi · 477
- Tenth & Penn Elementary School0.4 mi · 345
- Tenth & Green Elementary School0.4 mi · 564
- Southern Middle School0.5 mi · 661
- Reading SHS0.6 mi · 4,879
- Amanda E Stout Elementary School0.6 mi · 758
Frequently asked questions
About Central Middle SchoolHow large is Central Middle School?
Central Middle School enrolls approximately 1,785 students in grades 05-08.
What age range does Central Middle School serve?
Central Middle School serves students from grade 05 through grade 08.
How many students per teacher at Central Middle School?
Approximately 15.4:1 students per teacher at Central Middle School.
How diverse is Central Middle School?
Central Middle School reports a student body of 5% White, 88% Hispanic, 6% Black, 0% Asian, 1% Two or more.
What district is Central Middle School in?
Central Middle School is part of Reading SD.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.