Monessen MS

Set in Monessen, Pennsylvania, Monessen MS is a micro-enrollment middle-grades school, overseen by Monessen City SD. It educates 128 students across grades 6 through 8. That puts it 78% leaner than the typical public school in Pennsylvania, which averages around 594 students.

Across the 3 schools in Monessen City SD (651 students total), Monessen MS accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

Looking at the student body, Monessen MS logs that the largest single group is Black at 39%, but no single group is in the majority; the rest looks like 38% White, 16% multiracial, 6% Hispanic. By comparison, Westmoreland County as a whole is about 3% Black, so the school skews noticeably more Black than its surroundings.

Looking at school resources, Staff filings list 15 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 8.6:1 students per teacher. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 13.2:1 average. Around 93% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment. That share is noticeably above Westmoreland County's rate of about 53%.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), Monessen MS is in the bottom 10% of Pennsylvania public schools. The BeatsExpectations model predicts schools with this FRL share to land around 37.8%; Monessen MS posts 15.1%, -22.7 points below that line.

Around the school, Westmoreland County reports that median household income runs about $74,109, 33% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 7%. In all, Westmoreland County runs 85 public schools (combined enrollment of about 41,302 students), of which Monessen MS is one.

The closest other public school is Monessen SHS, roughly 0.0 miles away. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. On composite proficiency, Monessen MS comes 7th of 8 in the immediate cluster, beneath the nearby-schools average of 36.7%.

Geographically, the school is in a small-town area.

Five-year trend. Monessen MS's enrollment has fell 21% since 2018, when it stood at 162 (now 128). Over the same period, the White share decreased from 50% to 38%. The student-to-teacher ratio fell from 10.8:1 in 2018 to 8.6:1 today.

In the discussion threads here, recent activity here tends to focus on science fair prep, picture-day reminders, and bus-route questions. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.