1
What's the most underrated thing about Downingtown MS that outsiders don't know?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
1,074
Middle
DISTRICT 1,062 · STATE 594
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·DOWNINGTOWN AREA SD·NCES 420771000308
Downingtown Middle School
115 Rock Raymond Rd, Downingtown, PA 19335 · (610) 518-0685 · Chester County
GRADES 07–08MIDDLE21-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL1,074 STUDENTS
B+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 67% of Pennsylvania public middle schools
- A-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- C+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
12.9:1
83 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.4:1 · STATE 13.2:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
16%
171 students
DISTRICT 15% · 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 7 | 543 | 51% |
| Grade 8 | 531 | 49% |
Student demographics
44%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 53% · 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
Test scores
PSSA + Keystone 2024-25 . % Proficient or AdvancedEnglish Language Arts
66.9%
PA avg 51.1% . -6.2pp since 2023
Math
48.0%
PA avg 43.0% . -0.9pp since 2023
What this means: On the PSSA + Keystone, Pennsylvania's statewide test, about 67 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 48 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 have held steady.
PSSA + Keystone results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 66.9% | 48.0% |
| 2023-24 | 73.1% | 48.9% |
% 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
61.8%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
70.8%
based on PA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-9.0pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 62% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 71% 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 Downingtown Middle School
Downingtown Middle School's state test result (61.8% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Downingtown Middle School this school | 1,074 | 15.9% | 61.8% |
| Newtown Middle School Newtown | 833 | 13.8% | 73.7% |
| Strath Haven Middle School Wallingford | 868 | 16.9% | 70.5% |
| Charles F Patton Middle School Kennett Square | 842 | 9.6% | 74.9% |
| Tamanend Middle School Warrington | 901 | 20.2% | 55.1% |
| J R Fugett Middle School West Chester | 930 | 22.4% | 53.8% |
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 Downingtown Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Pennsylvania | In Chester County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 61.8% | #89 of 479 | #7 of 18 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 48.0% | #134 of 513 ▼ 17 | #9 of 19 ▼ 2 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 66.9% | #93 of 513 ▼ 30 | #8 of 19 ▼ 4 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 1,074 | #36 of 522 | #3 of 21 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 12.9:1 | #249 of 486 | #14 of 21 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 43.6% | #205 of 486 | #18 of 21 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 15.9% | #481 of 510 | #14 of 19 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -2.3% | #299 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
1,074
-19 (-2%) vs 2020
-17% since 2000-01, when it was 1,294
Student : Teacher
12.9:1
was 14.2:1
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 | 1,074 | 83 | 12.9:1 | 16% (171) |
| 2023-24 | 1,094 | 82.3 | 13.3:1 | 16% (171) |
| 2022-23 | 1,154 | 83.8 | 13.8:1 | 13% (154) |
| 2020-21 | 1,093 | 77 | 14.2:1 | 13% (143) |
| 2017-18 | 1,099 | 74.2 | 14.8:1 | 11% (124) |
| 2015-16 | 976 | 72 | 13.6:1 | 10% (93) |
| 2010-11 | 1,313 | 101 | 13.0:1 | 6% (81) |
| 2000-01 | 1,294 | 93 | 13.9:1 | 2% (30) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Downingtown Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students down 2% (1,099 to 1,074); teachers up 12% (74.2 to 83).
About Downingtown Middle School
Downingtown Middle School is the name of a large middle-grades school in Downingtown, Pennsylvania. It had 1,074 students in 2024-25, spanning grades 7 through 8. Middle schools in Pennsylvania average about 594 students, which makes this school 81% bigger than average.
Downingtown Area SD is the district for Downingtown Middle School. It has 16 schools and 13,047 students.
About 73% of the student body at Downingtown Middle School is White. Other groups make up 14% Asian, 6% Hispanic, 4% multiracial, and 2% Black. Chester County residents are about 77% White, a similar share. Its diversity index, the chance that two randomly chosen students belong to different racial or ethnic groups, is 44%.
Classroom staffing at Downingtown Middle School totals 83 full-time-equivalent teachers, and the student-to-teacher ratio is 12.9:1. The average ratio among middle schools in Pennsylvania is similar, at 13.2:1. Federal data show 16% of students (171) are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. The average for public schools in Chester County is 38%.
Downingtown Middle School earns a B+ on the allk12 Grade, which blends test scores, results against poverty-based expectations, and the three-year trend. It scored higher than 67% of Pennsylvania public middle schools.
Downingtown Middle School sits between the top and bottom 10% of Pennsylvania schools on BeatsExpectations, with an actual average proficiency rate across its state test results of 61.8% and a predicted 70.8%.
The school's county is Chester County. According to Census Bureau estimates, median household income comes to about $127,208, 57% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 4% of people live in poverty. There are 111 public schools in the county, enrolling about 83,468, Downingtown Middle School among them.
Downingtown HS West Campus is about 0.2 miles from Downingtown Middle School, the shortest distance to any other public school. A five-mile radius around the school includes at least 8 other public schools. On state test proficiency, Downingtown Middle School ranks 7th in a group of 8 nearby schools.
The National Center for Education Statistics classifies the school's location as Suburb: Large, meaning it is in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
In 2020-21, Downingtown Middle School enrolled 1,093; in 2024-25, 1,074. In 2020-21, the student-to-teacher ratio was 14.2:1; by 2024-25 it was 12.9:1.
People who know Downingtown Middle School can post here about homework, tutoring, and testing dates. Teachers and staff are welcome to share updates too.
Chester County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
547,840
Census ACS
Median income
$127,208
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
57%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
4%
Below federal line
Schools in county
111
83,468 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Downingtown Area SD
- Downingtown HS West CampusHigh · 1,796 students
- Downingtown HS East CampusHigh · 1,708 students
- Marsh Creek Sixth Grade CenterMiddle · 1,066 students
- Lionville Middle SchoolMiddle · 1,045 students
- Downingtown STEM AcademyHigh · 962 students
- Lionville Elementary SchoolElementary · 668 students
Other schools in Downingtown
- Downingtown HS West CampusHigh · 1,796 students
- Marsh Creek Sixth Grade CenterMiddle · 1,066 students
- Downingtown STEM AcademyHigh · 962 students
- Lionville Elementary SchoolElementary · 668 students
- West Bradford Elementary SchoolElementary · 623 students
- East Ward Elementary SchoolElementary · 549 students
Nearby schools
- Downingtown HS West Campus0.2 mi · 1,796
- Downingtown STEM Academy0.4 mi · 962
- Beaver Creek Elementary School0.8 mi · 531
- East Ward Elementary School1.2 mi · 549
- Bradford Hgts Elementary School1.7 mi · 534
- Chester County Technical College High School - Brandywine2.0 mi · 75
Frequently asked questions
About Downingtown Middle SchoolHow large is Downingtown Middle School?
Downingtown Middle School enrolls approximately 1,074 students in grades 07-08.
What age range does Downingtown Middle School serve?
Downingtown Middle School serves students from grade 07 through grade 08.
How many teachers does Downingtown Middle School have?
Downingtown Middle School employs 83 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 12.9:1.
What is the student diversity at Downingtown Middle School?
Student demographics at Downingtown Middle School are roughly 73% White, 6% Hispanic, 2% Black, 14% Asian, 4% Two or more.
What district is Downingtown Middle School in?
Downingtown Middle School is part of Downingtown Area SD.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.