1
How has Northwest MS changed in the last five years, for better or worse?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
821
Middle
DISTRICT 942 · STATE 594
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·READING SD·NCES 422004000856
Northwest Middle School
1000 N Front St, Reading, PA 19601 · (610) 371-5772 · Berks County
GRADES 05–08MIDDLE13-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL821 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
14.0:1
59 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.4:1 · STATE 13.2:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
101%
827 students
DISTRICT 101% · 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 5 | 199 | 24% |
| Grade 6 | 200 | 24% |
| Grade 7 | 211 | 26% |
| Grade 8 | 211 | 26% |
Student demographics
21%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 22% · 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
Northwest Middle School→Reading SHS
Based on grade levels within Reading SD. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
PSSA + Keystone 2024-25 . % Proficient or AdvancedEnglish Language Arts
16.2%
PA avg 51.1% . -3.7pp since 2023
Math
6.7%
PA avg 43.0% . -0.7pp since 2023
What this means: On the PSSA + Keystone, Pennsylvania's statewide test, about 16 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 7 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 4 points since 2023, while math scores have held steady.
PSSA + Keystone results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 16.2% | 6.7% |
| 2023-24 | 19.9% | 7.4% |
% 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
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of PA schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
12.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
34.4%
based on PA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-21.6pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 13% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 34% typical for Pennsylvania schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Where Northwest Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Pennsylvania | In Berks County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 12.9% | #467 of 479 | #22 of 23 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 6.7% | #487 of 513 ▼ 7 | #24 of 26 ▼ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 16.2% | #492 of 513 ▲ 1 | #24 of 26 no change |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 821 | #109 of 522 | #7 of 26 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.0:1 | #332 of 486 | #18 of 26 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 21.0% | #378 of 486 | #25 of 26 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 101% | #66 of 510 | #4 of 26 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +23.6% | #21 of 131 | #2 of 8 |
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
821
-96 (-10%) vs 2020
-11% since 1990-91, when it was 919
Student : Teacher
14.0:1
was 16.7:1
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 | 821 | 58.8 | 14.0:1 | N/A |
| 2023-24 | 827 | 55 | 15.0:1 | 100% (827) |
| 2022-23 | 869 | 52.8 | 16.5:1 | 100% (869) |
| 2020-21 | 917 | 55 | 16.7:1 | 100% (914) |
| 2017-18 | 664 | 42 | 15.8:1 | 100% (664) |
| 2015-16 | 677 | 41 | 16.5:1 | 100% (677) |
| 2010-11 | 743 | 58 | 12.8:1 | 93% (691) |
| 2000-01 | 874 | 60 | 14.6:1 | 72% (626) |
| 1990-91 | 919 | 63 | 14.6:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Northwest Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students up 24% (664 to 821); teachers up 40% (42 to 58.8).
About Northwest Middle School
Northwest Middle School is a middle school located in Reading, Pennsylvania, in Berks County. School enrollment was 821 students in 2024-25, in grades 5 through 8. For comparison, middle schools in Pennsylvania average about 594 students.
Reading SD runs Northwest Middle School along with 18 other schools, enrolling 16,423 students in total.
About 89% of the student body at Northwest Middle School is Hispanic. The rest of enrollment is 6% Black and 4% White. Census estimates put the Hispanic share of Berks County's population at about 25%. Northwest Middle School's diversity index is 21%, against a US figure of 70%.
Northwest Middle School employs 58.8 full-time-equivalent teachers. That gives a ratio of about 14.0:1. This ratio sits 0.8 above the 13.2:1 average for middle schools in Pennsylvania.
On allk12's BeatsExpectations measure, Northwest Middle School is among the bottom 10% of schools in Pennsylvania. Predicted: 34.4%. Actual: 12.9%.
Northwest Middle School is located in Berks County, where the median household income is $79,777, 28% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 9% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Northwest Middle School is one of 95 public schools in the county.
The closest other public school is Riverside Elementary School, about 0.4 miles away. Northwest Middle School has at least 8 other public schools within five miles. Northwest Middle School's average proficiency of 12.9% compares with 25.9% for its nearest scored neighbors.
The federal government classifies Northwest Middle School's location as City: Small.
Enrollment at Northwest Middle School declined 10% between 2020-21 and 2024-25, from 917 to 821 students. The ratio was 16.7:1 in 2020-21 and 14.0:1 in 2024-25.
If you have questions about enrollment questions, class placement, and PTA news at Northwest Middle School, you can post them here. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.
Berks County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
433,015
Census ACS
Median income
$79,777
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
28%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
9%
Below federal line
Schools in county
95
62,375 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Reading SD
- Reading SHSHigh · 4,879 students
- Central Middle SchoolMiddle · 1,785 students
- Northeast Middle SchoolMiddle · 868 students
- Amanda E Stout Elementary SchoolElementary · 758 students
- Riverside Elementary SchoolElementary · 694 students
- Southern Middle SchoolMiddle · 661 students
Other schools in Reading
- Reading SHSHigh · 4,879 students
- Central Middle SchoolMiddle · 1,785 students
- Exeter Twp SHSHigh · 1,312 students
- Muhlenberg El CenterElementary · 1,241 students
- Muhlenberg High SchoolHigh · 1,166 students
- Muhlenberg Jr High SchoolMiddle · 1,016 students
Other Northwest Middle schools
13 other US public schools in 11 states are named Northwest Middle. Northwest Middle School is the 3rd largest of the 14.
- Northwest Middle SchoolFlowood, MS · 1,352 students
- Northwest Middle SchoolCoralville, IA · 1,113 students
- Northwest Middle SchoolKnoxville, TN · 798 students
- Northwest MiddleTravelers Rest, SC · 783 students
- NORTHWEST MIDDLEFLORISSANT, MO · 770 students
Nearby schools
- Riverside Elementary School0.4 mi · 694
- Northwest Elementary School0.6 mi · 496
- Lauers Park Elementary School0.8 mi · 615
- Glenside Elementary School0.8 mi · 261
- Tenth & Green Elementary School1.1 mi · 564
- Twelfth & Marion Elementary School1.1 mi · 459
Frequently asked questions
About Northwest Middle SchoolHow many students attend Northwest Middle School?
Northwest Middle School enrolls approximately 821 students in grades 05-08.
What grades does Northwest Middle School serve?
Northwest Middle School serves grades 05-08.
How many students per teacher at Northwest Middle School?
Approximately 14.0:1 students per teacher at Northwest Middle School.
How diverse is Northwest Middle School?
Northwest Middle School reports a student body of 4% White, 89% Hispanic, 6% Black, 0% Asian, 1% Two or more.
Who oversees Northwest Middle School?
Northwest Middle School is overseen by Reading SD in Berks County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.