1
How has Colonial MS changed in the last five years, for better or worse?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
1,268
Middle
DISTRICT 808 · STATE 594
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·COLONIAL SD·NCES 421947005077
Colonial Middle School
716 Belvoir Rd, Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462 · (610) 275-5100 · Montgomery County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE21-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL1,268 STUDENTS
A
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 86% of Pennsylvania public middle schools
- ATest 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
13.7:1
93 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.7:1 · STATE 13.2:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
26%
333 students
DISTRICT 25% · 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 | 423 | 33% |
| Grade 7 | 418 | 33% |
| Grade 8 | 427 | 34% |
Student demographics
49%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 48% · 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
Colonial Middle School→Plymouth-Whitemarsh SHS
Feeds from
Based on grade levels within Colonial SD. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
PSSA + Keystone 2024-25 . % Proficient or AdvancedEnglish Language Arts
66.1%
PA avg 51.1% . -6.5pp since 2023
Math
58.9%
PA avg 43.0% . -0.5pp since 2023
What this means: On the PSSA + Keystone, Pennsylvania's statewide test, about 66 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 59 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 7 points since 2023, while math scores have held steady.
PSSA + Keystone results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 66.1% | 58.9% |
| 2023-24 | 72.6% | 59.4% |
% 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
65.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
66.3%
based on PA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-0.9pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 65% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 66% 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 Colonial Middle School
Colonial Middle School's state test result (65.5% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colonial Middle School this school | 1,268 | 26.3% | 65.5% |
| Richardson Middle School Springfield | 1,081 | 24.6% | 71.3% |
| Maple Point Middle School Langhorne | 1,296 | 32.6% | 45.4% |
| Dorseyville Middle School Pittsburgh | 981 | 22.1% | 80.4% |
| North Hills Middle School Pittsburgh | 1,127 | 26.4% | 64.7% |
| Haverford Middle School Havertown | 1,578 | 17.9% | 75.8% |
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 Colonial Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Pennsylvania | In Montgomery County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 65.5% | #65 of 479 | #10 of 33 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 58.9% | #63 of 513 ▼ 12 | #9 of 33 ▼ 2 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 66.1% | #101 of 513 ▼ 36 | #13 of 33 ▼ 3 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 1,268 | #17 of 522 | #4 of 34 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 13.7:1 | #305 of 486 | #27 of 34 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 48.8% | #164 of 486 | #26 of 34 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 26.3% | #434 of 510 | #18 of 33 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +20.6% | #27 of 131 | #1 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
1,268
+75 (+6%) vs 2020
+47% since 1990-91, when it was 865
Student : Teacher
13.7:1
was 12.8:1
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 | 1,268 | 92.9 | 13.7:1 | 26% (333) |
| 2023-24 | 1,253 | 94.9 | 13.2:1 | 27% (333) |
| 2022-23 | 1,210 | N/A | N/A | 27% (324) |
| 2020-21 | 1,193 | 93 | 12.8:1 | 26% (314) |
| 2017-18 | 1,051 | 90 | 11.7:1 | 23% (244) |
| 2015-16 | 1,084 | 88 | 12.3:1 | 23% (246) |
| 2010-11 | 1,025 | 88 | 11.7:1 | 16% (169) |
| 2000-01 | 1,092 | 83 | 13.2:1 | 13% (145) |
| 1990-91 | 865 | 74 | 11.7:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Colonial Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students up 21% (1,051 to 1,268); teachers up 3% (90 to 92.9).
About Colonial Middle School
Colonial Middle School is a large middle school based in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania. Total enrollment is 1,268 students, and the grades served are 6 through 8. Middle schools in Pennsylvania have about 594 students on average; enrollment here is 113% higher.
Colonial SD is the district for Colonial Middle School. It has 7 schools and 5,657 students.
The share of White students at Colonial Middle School is 70%, a majority. The school is also 11% Black, 7% multiracial, 6% Hispanic, and 6% Asian. Census estimates put Montgomery County at about 73% White, close to the school's figure. Its diversity index, the chance that two randomly chosen students belong to different racial or ethnic groups, is 49%.
Colonial Middle School has 92.9 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of about 13.7:1. It is about the same as the 13.2:1 average for middle schools in Pennsylvania. Eligibility for free or reduced-price lunch, often used to gauge student poverty, is 26%. That is lower than the 40% average for public schools in Montgomery County.
Among Pennsylvania public middle schools, Colonial Middle School outscored 86%, which works out to an A on the allk12 Grade.
Test results at Colonial Middle School are within a point of what its free or reduced-price lunch share predicts (65.5% actual, 66.3% predicted).
American Community Survey estimates for Montgomery County show that median household income comes to about $113,915, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 53% of adults, and the poverty rate is about 4%. The county's public schools total 160, with about 115,302 students.
The closest school to Colonial Middle School is Central Montco Technical High School, located about 0.3 miles away. The count of other public schools within five miles is at least 8. Among its closest neighbors with test data, Colonial Middle School is 2nd of 7 on proficiency.
Locale: Suburb: Large. In NCES terms, the school is in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
The school's student count increased 6% between the 2020-21 and 2024-25 school years.
Parents, students, and staff can share information on special education services, counseling, and support programs here. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to post.
Montgomery County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
867,573
Census ACS
Median income
$113,915
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
53%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
4%
Below federal line
Schools in county
160
115,302 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Colonial SD
- Plymouth-Whitemarsh SHSHigh · 1,637 students
- Colonial Elementary SchoolElementary · 857 students
- Plymouth Elementary SchoolElementary · 612 students
- Ridge Park Elementary SchoolElementary · 525 students
- Whitemarsh Elementary SchoolElementary · 511 students
- Conshohocken Elementary SchoolElementary · 247 students
Other schools in Plymouth Meeting
- Plymouth-Whitemarsh SHSHigh · 1,637 students
- Colonial Elementary SchoolElementary · 857 students
- Plymouth Elementary SchoolElementary · 612 students
- Central Montco Technical High SchoolHigh · 3 students
Other Colonial Middle schools
One other US public school is named Colonial Middle. Colonial Middle School is the largest of the 2.
- Colonial MiddleMemphis, TN · 1,034 students
Nearby schools
- Central Montco Technical High School0.3 mi · 3
- Plymouth Elementary School1.0 mi · 612
- Cole Manor Elementary School1.1 mi · 347
- Hancock Elementary School1.1 mi · 347
- Ray S. Musselman Learning Center1.2 mi · 274
- Eisenhower Middle School1.5 mi · 781
Frequently asked questions
About Colonial Middle SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Colonial Middle School?
Colonial Middle School enrolls approximately 1,268 students in grades 06-08.
What grades does Colonial Middle School serve?
Colonial Middle School serves grades 06-08.
How many students per teacher at Colonial Middle School?
Approximately 13.7:1 students per teacher at Colonial Middle School.
What is the student diversity at Colonial Middle School?
Student demographics at Colonial Middle School are roughly 70% White, 6% Hispanic, 11% Black, 6% Asian, 7% Two or more.
Is Colonial Middle School public or private?
Colonial Middle School is a public K-12 school, overseen by Colonial SD.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.