Lower Dauphin MS

Lower Dauphin MS is a reasonably sized junior high in Hummelstown, Pennsylvania, part of Lower Dauphin SD. The school hosts 781 students in grades 6 through 8. That puts it 31% bigger than the typical public school in Pennsylvania, which averages around 594 students.

Across the 8 schools in Lower Dauphin SD (3,339 students total), Lower Dauphin MS accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

On the student-mix side, Lower Dauphin MS lists that 80% of the student body identifies as White. Other groups include 9% Hispanic, 6% multiracial, 3% Asian, 2% Black. That is meaningfully more White than the county at large, where the share is closer to 63%.

On the income-and-resources front, The school lists 68 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 11.5:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 13.2:1 average. Around 33% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. Set against Dauphin County (around 59%), the school's rate is noticeably below typical.

After controlling for student poverty, Lower Dauphin MS performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 63.5%, the actual is 48.4%, a residual of -15.1 points.

In the area at large, census data for Dauphin County shows median household earnings sit near $76,242, 34% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 9%. In all, Dauphin County runs 75 public schools (combined enrollment of about 72,718 students), of which Lower Dauphin MS is one.

Nearest neighbor: Price, around 0.5 miles off. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Among the 7 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Lower Dauphin MS ranks 7th on composite proficiency, beneath the local average of 72.5%.

Lower Dauphin MS operates from a bedroom-community location.

Five-year trend. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Lower Dauphin MS has shrank 12%, going from 891 students in 2018 to 781 in 2025. The White share of enrollment ticked down from 86% to 80% over that span. The student-to-teacher ratio narrowed from 13.5:1 in 2018 to 11.5:1 today.

On this page, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around enrollment questions, classroom assignments, and PTA news. The community welcomes input from current and former families.