Southern Columbia MS

Set in Catawissa, Pennsylvania, Southern Columbia MS is a cozy 6-8 campus, overseen by Southern Columbia Area SD. It instructs 367 students across grades 5 through 8. Compared to the state average of about 594 students per school, that is 38% smaller than typical.

Within Southern Columbia Area SD, which oversees 3 schools and 1,195 students, Southern Columbia MS is one campus in the system.

For racial and ethnic makeup, Southern Columbia MS reports that the student body is overwhelmingly White (95%). Beyond that, the school logs 2% Hispanic. Compared to Columbia County overall, the school's racial mix sits in roughly the same range.

Looking at the economic backdrop, Southern Columbia MS reports 27 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 13.5:1. The state averages about 13.2:1, putting this campus right in line with peers. Roughly 38% of students at Southern Columbia MS qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy. By comparison, Columbia County runs at roughly 56%, so the school's eligibility rate is below the surrounding baseline.

With demographic context factored in, Southern Columbia MS performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 61.3%, the actual is 60.7%, a residual of -0.6 points.

Across the wider county, ACS estimates for Columbia County put the typical household earns roughly $64,644 per year, roughly 27% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 8% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Southern Columbia MS is one of 20 public schools in Columbia County (combined enrollment of about 7,501 students).

Southern Columbia HS is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.0 miles from this campus. Counting just inside five miles, 2 other public schools cluster around Southern Columbia MS. Among the 6 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Southern Columbia MS ranks 3rd on composite proficiency, ahead of the local average of 57.5%.

Southern Columbia MS operates from a countryside location.

Looking at the recent track record. Over the past 7-year window, the student count ticked down 20%: 461 students in 2018 compared to 367 in 2025. Class-load math has pulled in: from 15.4:1 in 2018 to 13.5:1 in 2025.

Within the allk12 community for this school, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around science fair prep, picture-day reminders, and bus-route questions. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.