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What's the most underrated thing about Freedom HS that outsiders don't know?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
1,792
High
DISTRICT 2,167 · STATE 738
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·BETHLEHEM AREA SD·NCES 420357004957
Freedom High School
3149 Chester Ave, Bethlehem, PA 18020 · (610) 867-5843 · Northampton County
GRADES 09–12HIGH21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL1,792 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
16.5:1
108 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 16.3:1 · STATE 12.8:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
53%
954 students
DISTRICT 64% · STATE 75%
Community
1
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other high schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 9 | 439 | 24% |
| Grade 10 | 465 | 26% |
| Grade 11 | 404 | 23% |
| Grade 12 | 484 | 27% |
Student demographics
64%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
Test scores
PSSA + Keystone 2024-25 . % Proficient or AdvancedEnglish Language Arts
51.2%
PA avg 51.1% . +0.0pp since 2023
Math
33.4%
PA avg 43.0% . +0.6pp since 2023
What this means: On the PSSA + Keystone, Pennsylvania's statewide test, about 51 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 33 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Pennsylvania schools, those numbers are about 51 and 43. Reading and writing scores have held steady since 2023, while math scores have held steady.
PSSA + Keystone results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 51.2% | 33.4% |
| 2023-24 | 51.2% | 32.8% |
% 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
41.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
54.8%
based on PA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-13.7pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 41% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 55% 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 Freedom High School
Freedom High School's state test result (41.1% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Freedom High School this school | 1,792 | 53.2% | 41.1% |
| Kennett High School Kennett Square | 1,184 | 51.2% | 46.5% |
| Chambersburg Area SHS Chambersburg | 2,319 | 60.4% | 45.1% |
| Liberty High School Bethlehem | 2,541 | 64.3% | 33.7% |
| Wilson High School West Lawn | 2,133 | 42.4% | 56.7% |
| Stroudsburg High School Stroudsburg | 1,196 | 47.7% | 62.8% |
Matched among Pennsylvania high 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 Freedom High School ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Pennsylvania | In Northampton County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 41.1% | #426 of 576 | #8 of 11 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 33.4% | #370 of 626 ▲ 1 | #8 of 11 ▼ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 51.2% | #399 of 626 ▲ 43 | #8 of 11 ▲ 1 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 1,792 | #48 of 713 | #4 of 13 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 16.5:1 | #502 of 601 | #10 of 11 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 64.3% | #58 of 604 | #3 of 11 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 53.2% | #316 of 619 | #4 of 11 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -7.0% | #239 of 373 | #5 of 8 |
Ranked against other public high 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
1,792
-89 (-5%) vs 2020
+16% since 1990-91, when it was 1,550
Student : Teacher
16.5:1
was 17.9:1
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 | 1,792 | 108.5 | 16.5:1 | 53% (954) |
| 2023-24 | 1,813 | 115.9 | 15.6:1 | 53% (954) |
| 2022-23 | 1,753 | 111.4 | 15.7:1 | 38% (661) |
| 2020-21 | 1,881 | 105 | 17.9:1 | 35% (654) |
| 2017-18 | 1,926 | 106 | 18.2:1 | 35% (670) |
| 2015-16 | 1,910 | 103 | 18.5:1 | 45% (863) |
| 2010-11 | 1,994 | 111 | 18.0:1 | 38% (756) |
| 2000-01 | 1,758 | 95 | 18.5:1 | 20% (349) |
| 1990-91 | 1,550 | 85 | 18.2:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Freedom High School.
Since 2017-18: students down 7% (1,926 to 1,792); teachers up 2% (106 to 108.5).
About Freedom High School
Freedom High School is a large high school in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, under Bethlehem Area SD. Classes run from 9 through 12, and the school has 1,792 students. The average for high schools in Pennsylvania is about 738 students, so this school is 143% larger than average.
In Bethlehem Area SD, 22 schools enroll a combined 12,717 students.
Freedom High School's enrollment has no majority group, and White students are the largest at 43%. The school is also 40% Hispanic, 11% Black, and 4% Asian. The White share of the county population is higher, at 74%. Freedom High School has a diversity index of 64%, compared with 70% for all US public school students.
The ratio of students to teachers is 16.5:1, with 108.5 full-time-equivalent teachers on staff. For comparison, high schools in Pennsylvania average 12.8:1. The percentage of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch is 53%. Compared with the 61% average for public schools in Northampton County, the school's rate is lower.
The model predicts 54.8% for a school in Pennsylvania with Freedom High School's free or reduced-price lunch share. Freedom High School posts 41.1%.
In the county around the school, Northampton County, median household income is about $89,184, roughly 35% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 6%. Freedom High School is among the 60 public schools in Northampton County.
Of nearby public schools, East Hills Middle School is the closest, at about 0.2 miles. The count of other public schools within five miles is at least 8. Of 8 schools in the immediate area with test results, Freedom High School ranks 5th on average proficiency.
The federal government classifies Freedom High School's location as Suburb: Large.
Freedom High School had 1,881 students in 2020-21 and 1,792 in 2024-25, a 5% decrease. Its ratio of students to teachers was 17.9:1 in 2020-21, and 16.5:1 in 2024-25.
Questions about sports schedules, lunch menus, and spirit week can be posted here. Questions from prospective families are welcome too.
Northampton County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
318,580
Census ACS
Median income
$89,184
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
35%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
6%
Below federal line
Schools in county
60
38,316 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Bethlehem Area SD
- Liberty High SchoolHigh · 2,541 students
- East Hills Middle SchoolMiddle · 966 students
- Nitschmann Middle SchoolMiddle · 731 students
- Northeast Middle SchoolMiddle · 715 students
- Spring Garden Elementary SchoolElementary · 532 students
- Fountain Hill Elementary SchoolElementary · 530 students
Other schools in Bethlehem
- Liberty High SchoolHigh · 2,541 students
- Lehigh Valley Academy Regional CSCombined · 1,878 students
- East Hills Middle SchoolMiddle · 966 students
- Nitschmann Middle SchoolMiddle · 731 students
- Northeast Middle SchoolMiddle · 715 students
- Southern Lehigh Intermediate SchoolMiddle · 702 students
Other Freedom High schools
9 other US public schools in 8 states are named Freedom High. Freedom High School is the 6th largest of the 10.
- FREEDOM HIGHORLANDO, FL · 2,504 students
- Freedom HighOakley, CA · 2,460 students
- Freedom HighWoodbridge, VA · 2,303 students
- Freedom HighSouth Riding, VA · 1,885 students
- FREEDOM HIGH SCHOOLTAMPA, FL · 1,869 students
Nearby schools
- East Hills Middle School0.2 mi · 966
- Bethlehem Area Vocational-Technical School0.3 mi · 18
- Governor Wolf Elementary School0.8 mi · 432
- Miller Heights Elementary School1.3 mi · 328
- Spring Garden Elementary School1.6 mi · 532
- Lincoln Elementary School1.9 mi · 355
Frequently asked questions
About Freedom High SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Freedom High School?
Freedom High School enrolls approximately 1,792 students in grades 09-12.
Is Freedom High School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Freedom High School is a high school covering grades 09-12.
How many teachers does Freedom High School have?
Freedom High School employs 108 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 16.5:1.
What is the student diversity at Freedom High School?
Student demographics at Freedom High School are roughly 43% White, 40% Hispanic, 11% Black, 4% Asian, 1% Two or more.
Who oversees Freedom High School?
Freedom High School is overseen by Bethlehem Area SD in Northampton County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.