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Honest take: what's the hardest part about being a student at Mars Area MS?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
563
Middle
DISTRICT 595 · STATE 594
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·MARS AREA SD·NCES 421479005363
Mars Area Middle School
1775 Three Degree Rd, Mars, PA 16046 · (724) 625-3145 · Butler County
GRADES 07–08MIDDLE21-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL563 STUDENTS
B-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 54% 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
14.0:1
40 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.1:1 · STATE 13.2:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
11%
61 students
DISTRICT 12% · 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 | 293 | 52% |
| Grade 8 | 270 | 48% |
Student demographics
14%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 15% · 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
Mars Area Middle School→Mars Area SHS
Feeds from
Based on grade levels within Mars Area SD. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
PSSA + Keystone 2024-25 . % Proficient or AdvancedEnglish Language Arts
65.1%
PA avg 51.1% . -7.6pp since 2023
Math
43.7%
PA avg 43.0% . -0.3pp since 2023
What this means: On the PSSA + Keystone, Pennsylvania's statewide test, about 65 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 44 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 8 points since 2023, while math scores have held steady.
PSSA + Keystone results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 65.1% | 43.7% |
| 2023-24 | 72.7% | 44.0% |
% 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
58.7%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
73.0%
based on PA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-14.3pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 59% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 73% 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 Mars Area Middle School
Mars Area Middle School's state test result (58.7% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mars Area Middle School this school | 563 | 10.8% | 58.7% |
| Mars Area Centennial School Mars | 627 | 12.0% | 68.2% |
| Avonworth Middle School Pittsburgh | 446 | 10.5% | 63.9% |
| Hampton Middle School Allison Park | 606 | 18.2% | 74.8% |
| Mellon Middle School Pittsburgh | 661 | 13.8% | 76.3% |
| Pine-Richland Middle School Gibsonia | 703 | 6.4% | 70.2% |
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 Mars Area Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Pennsylvania | In Butler County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 58.7% | #116 of 479 | #5 of 9 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 43.7% | #169 of 513 ▼ 2 | #6 of 9 no change |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 65.1% | #110 of 513 ▼ 46 | #6 of 9 ▼ 3 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 563 | #258 of 522 | #5 of 9 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.0:1 | #331 of 486 | #6 of 9 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 14.5% | #430 of 486 | #5 of 9 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 10.8% | #498 of 510 | #9 of 9 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +8.9% | #59 of 131 | N/A |
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
563
+49 (+10%) vs 2020
+22% since 1990-91, when it was 462
Student : Teacher
14.0:1
was 15.1:1
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 | 563 | 40.3 | 14.0:1 | 11% (61) |
| 2023-24 | 513 | 36.7 | 14.0:1 | 12% (61) |
| 2022-23 | 484 | 36.5 | 13.3:1 | 11% (51) |
| 2020-21 | 514 | 34 | 15.1:1 | 8% (41) |
| 2017-18 | 517 | 37.3 | 13.8:1 | 8% (41) |
| 2015-16 | 550 | 34 | 16.2:1 | 7% (41) |
| 2010-11 | 487 | 35 | 13.9:1 | 7% (34) |
| 2000-01 | 616 | 39 | 15.8:1 | 12% (74) |
| 1990-91 | 462 | 34 | 13.6:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Mars Area Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students up 9% (517 to 563); teachers up 8% (37.3 to 40.3).
About Mars Area Middle School
Mars Area Middle School is a mid-sized middle school that serves part of Mars, Pennsylvania. The school runs grades 7 through 8 and enrolls 563 students.
Mars Area Middle School sits within Mars Area SD, which has 5 schools and 3,620 students.
The share of White students at Mars Area Middle School is 92%. Next come 4% Asian. In Butler County overall, the White share is about 93%. The diversity index for Mars Area Middle School is 14%. For US public schools as a whole it is 70%.
Mars Area Middle School has a student-to-teacher ratio of 14.0:1, with 40.3 full-time-equivalent teachers. Statewide, middle schools in Pennsylvania average 13.2:1. The school has 11% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. It compares with 37% for public schools in Butler County.
Among Pennsylvania public middle schools, Mars Area Middle School outscored 54%, which works out to a B- on the allk12 Grade.
Based on student poverty, the model expects 73.0% at Mars Area Middle School; the school's average proficiency rate across its state test results is 58.7%.
In the surrounding county, Butler County, the median household earns about $89,843 a year, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 39%, and roughly 5% of residents are in poverty. Butler County has 39 public schools with about 24,616 students, including Mars Area Middle School.
Mars Area Middle School is about 0.3 miles from Mars Area SHS, its nearest public school. Within five miles are at least 8 other public schools. In a group of 8 nearby schools with scores, Mars Area Middle School ranks 8th on average proficiency.
Mars Area Middle School has an NCES locale of Suburb: Large.
The school grew from 514 students in 2020-21 to 563 in 2024-25. The student-to-teacher ratio went down from 15.1:1 to 14.0:1.
Mars Area Middle School has a community page on allk12 for topics such as athletics, class schedules, and weather closures. Teachers and staff are welcome to share updates too.
Butler County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
197,254
Census ACS
Median income
$89,843
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
39%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
5%
Below federal line
Schools in county
39
24,616 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Mars Area SD
- Mars Area SHSHigh · 1,044 students
- Mars Area Elementary SchoolElementary · 880 students
- Mars Area Centennial SchoolMiddle · 627 students
- Mars Area Primary CenterElementary · 506 students
Other schools in Mars
- Mars Area SHSHigh · 1,044 students
- Mars Area Elementary SchoolElementary · 880 students
- Mars Area Centennial SchoolMiddle · 627 students
- Mars Area Primary CenterElementary · 506 students
Nearby schools
- Mars Area SHS0.3 mi · 1,044
- Mars Area Elementary School0.4 mi · 880
- Mars Area Centennial School0.4 mi · 627
- Mars Area Primary Center0.5 mi · 506
- Eden Hall Upper Elementary School2.7 mi · 1,076
- Richland Elementary School2.9 mi · 470
Frequently asked questions
About Mars Area Middle SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Mars Area Middle School?
Mars Area Middle School enrolls approximately 563 students in grades 07-08.
What grades does Mars Area Middle School serve?
Mars Area Middle School serves grades 07-08.
How many teachers does Mars Area Middle School have?
Mars Area Middle School employs 40 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 14.0:1.
What is the student diversity at Mars Area Middle School?
Student demographics at Mars Area Middle School are roughly 92% White, 2% Hispanic, 1% Black, 4% Asian, 1% Two or more.
What district is Mars Area Middle School in?
Mars Area Middle School is part of Mars Area SD.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.