Enrollment
261
Middle
DISTRICT 323 · STATE 594
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·PALMERTON AREA SD·NCES 421836007174
Palmerton Area Junior High School
3529 Fireline Rd, Palmerton, PA 18071 · (610) 826-2492 · Carbon County
GRADES 07–08MIDDLE31-TOWNTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL261 STUDENTS
C+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 42% of Pennsylvania public middle schools
- B-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
13.0:1
20 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 11.6:1 · STATE 13.2:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
48%
126 students
DISTRICT 49% · STATE 75%
Community
0
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 | 120 | 46% |
| Grade 8 | 141 | 54% |
Student demographics
20%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
Palmerton Area Junior High School→Palmerton Area High School
Based on grade levels within Palmerton Area SD. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
QUIET COMMUNITY
Be the first to start a discussion at Palmerton Area Junior High School.
START A DISCUSSIONTest scores
PSSA + Keystone 2024-25 . % Proficient or AdvancedEnglish Language Arts
49.0%
PA avg 51.1% . -11.4pp since 2023
Math
32.6%
PA avg 43.0% . -2.3pp since 2023
What this means: On the PSSA + Keystone, Pennsylvania's statewide test, about 49 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 are down about 11 points since 2023, while math scores are down about 2 points.
PSSA + Keystone results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 49.0% | 32.6% |
| 2023-24 | 60.4% | 34.9% |
% 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
47.2%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
56.9%
based on PA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-9.7pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 47% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 57% 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 Palmerton Area Junior High School
Palmerton Area Junior High School's state test result (47.2% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Palmerton Area Junior High School this school | 261 | 48.3% | 47.2% |
| Halifax Area Middle School Halifax | 263 | 51.7% | 44.0% |
| Ligonier Valley Middle School Ligonier | 268 | 46.6% | 47.4% |
| McConnellsburg Middle School McConnellsburg | 213 | 49.8% | 48.1% |
| Swift Middle School Quarryville | 326 | 48.2% | 35.0% |
| Schuylkill Haven Middle School Schuylkill Haven | 255 | 54.9% | 34.0% |
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 Palmerton Area Junior High School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Pennsylvania |
|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 47.2% | #258 of 479 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 32.6% | #308 of 513 ▼ 35 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 49.0% | #290 of 513 ▼ 86 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 261 | #455 of 522 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 13.0:1 | #252 of 486 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 19.6% | #389 of 486 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 48.3% | #274 of 510 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -7.1% | #229 of 332 |
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
261
-35 (-12%) vs 2020
-20% since 1990-91, when it was 326
Student : Teacher
13.0:1
was 16.4:1
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 | 261 | 20.1 | 13.0:1 | 48% (126) |
| 2023-24 | 271 | 20.1 | 13.5:1 | 46% (126) |
| 2022-23 | 267 | 19.1 | 14.0:1 | 42% (111) |
| 2020-21 | 296 | 18 | 16.4:1 | 31% (92) |
| 2017-18 | 281 | 18.7 | 15.0:1 | 30% (85) |
| 2015-16 | 299 | 18 | 16.6:1 | 35% (105) |
| 2010-11 | 341 | 21 | 16.2:1 | 24% (82) |
| 2000-01 | 336 | 20 | 16.8:1 | 0% (0) |
| 1990-91 | 326 | 17 | 19.2:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Palmerton Area Junior High School.
Since 2017-18: students down 7% (281 to 261); teachers up 7% (18.7 to 20.1).
About Palmerton Area Junior High School
Palmerton Area Junior High School is a small middle-grades school in Pennsylvania, located in Palmerton. In all, 261 students attend the school in grades 7 through 8. The school is 56% below the average for middle schools in Pennsylvania.
Palmerton Area SD serves 1,616 students across 5 schools.
Of every 100 students at Palmerton Area Junior High School, about 89 are White. Other students are 8% Hispanic. Census estimates put Carbon County at about 89% White, close to the school's figure. A diversity index of 20% means there is a 20% chance two randomly chosen students at Palmerton Area Junior High School are from different groups.
There are about 13.0 students for every full-time-equivalent teacher at Palmerton Area Junior High School, which has 20.1. The ratio is within a point of the 13.2:1 average for middle schools in Pennsylvania. Eligibility for free or reduced-price lunch stands at 48%. That is lower than the 65% average for public schools in Carbon County.
On the allk12 Grade, Palmerton Area Junior High School lands at C+, ahead of 42% of Pennsylvania public middle schools.
Compared with Pennsylvania schools that have similar shares of low-income students, Palmerton Area Junior High School's results are 9.7 points below predicted: 47.2% against 56.9%.
In the surrounding county, Carbon County, the median household earns about $67,554 a year, 19% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 8% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Counting Palmerton Area Junior High School, Carbon County has 18 public schools.
Palmerton Area Junior High School's nearest public school is Palmerton Area High School (less than a tenth of a mile). In all, 7 other public schools sit within five miles of Palmerton Area Junior High School. By average proficiency, Palmerton Area Junior High School is 4th among 8 schools close by.
NCES lists the school's locale as Town: Fringe. That means it sits in a town close to an urbanized area.
The 2020-21-to-2024-25 change in enrollment was a 12% decline, from 296 to 261. The student-to-teacher ratio went down from 16.4:1 to 13.0:1.
The allk12 page for Palmerton Area Junior High School lets the school community talk about pickup and drop-off, after-school programs, and teacher feedback. Current and former families are welcome to add their experience.
Carbon County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
65,382
Census ACS
Median income
$67,554
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
19%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
8%
Below federal line
Schools in county
18
8,111 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Palmerton Area SD
- Palmerton Area High SchoolHigh · 478 students
- S S Palmer Elementary SchoolElementary · 399 students
- Towamensing Elementary SchoolElementary · 328 students
- Parkside Education CenterElementary · 150 students
Other schools in Palmerton
- Palmerton Area High SchoolHigh · 478 students
- S S Palmer Elementary SchoolElementary · 399 students
- Parkside Education CenterElementary · 150 students
Nearby schools
- Palmerton Area High School0.0 mi · 478
- Parkside Education Center0.6 mi · 150
- S S Palmer Elementary School0.6 mi · 399
- Slatington Elementary School3.2 mi · 487
- Northern Lehigh SHS3.5 mi · 502
- Northern Lehigh Middle School3.5 mi · 238
Frequently asked questions
About Palmerton Area Junior High SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Palmerton Area Junior High School?
Palmerton Area Junior High School enrolls approximately 261 students in grades 07-08.
Is Palmerton Area Junior High School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Palmerton Area Junior High School is a middle school covering grades 07-08.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Palmerton Area Junior High School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Palmerton Area Junior High School is approximately 13.0:1 (20 FTE teachers).
How diverse is Palmerton Area Junior High School?
Palmerton Area Junior High School reports a student body of 89% White, 8% Hispanic, 1% Black, 0% Asian, 2% Two or more.
Is Palmerton Area Junior High School public or private?
Palmerton Area Junior High School is a public K-12 school, overseen by Palmerton Area SD.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.