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What's one thing Southern Lehigh Intermediate Sch gets right about preparing students for what comes next?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
702
Middle
DISTRICT 587 · STATE 594
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·SOUTHERN LEHIGH SD·NCES 422235006967
Southern Lehigh Intermediate School
5438 Route 378, Bethlehem, PA 18015 · (610) 861-4040 · Lehigh County
GRADES 04–06MIDDLE21-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL702 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
15.6:1
45 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.7:1 · STATE 13.2:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
18%
126 students
DISTRICT 17% · 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 4 | 220 | 31% |
| Grade 5 | 249 | 35% |
| Grade 6 | 233 | 33% |
Student demographics
37%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 36% · 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
Based on grade levels within Southern Lehigh SD. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
PSSA + Keystone 2024-25 . % Proficient or AdvancedEnglish Language Arts
68.9%
PA avg 51.1% . -9.4pp since 2023
Math
72.4%
PA avg 43.0% . -1.6pp since 2023
What this means: On the PSSA + Keystone, Pennsylvania's statewide test, about 69 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 72 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 9 points since 2023, while math scores are down about 2 points.
PSSA + Keystone results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 68.9% | 72.4% |
| 2023-24 | 78.3% | 74.0% |
% 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
75.6%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
69.9%
based on PA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+5.7pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 76% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 70% 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 Southern Lehigh Intermediate School
Southern Lehigh Intermediate School's state test result (75.6% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southern Lehigh Intermediate School this school | 702 | 17.9% | 75.6% |
| Franklin Regional Middle School Murrysville | 771 | 18.8% | 65.8% |
| Mount Nittany Middle School State College | 752 | 21.8% | 66.3% |
| Jefferson Middle School Pittsburgh | 621 | 17.6% | 76.6% |
| Indian Valley Middle School Harleysville | 731 | 20.4% | 59.5% |
| Tohickon Middle School Doylestown | 857 | 16.0% | 64.1% |
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 Southern Lehigh Intermediate School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Pennsylvania | In Lehigh County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 75.6% | #16 of 479 | #1 of 16 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 72.4% | #10 of 513 ▼ 3 | #1 of 17 no change |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 68.9% | #78 of 513 ▼ 48 | #4 of 17 ▼ 3 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 702 | #170 of 522 | #11 of 17 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 15.6:1 | #433 of 486 | #17 of 17 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 37.2% | #269 of 486 | #15 of 17 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 17.9% | #471 of 510 | #17 of 17 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -6.5% | #236 of 332 | #9 of 11 |
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
702
+34 (+5%) vs 2020
-6% since 2010-11, when it was 748
Student : Teacher
15.6:1
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 | 702 | 45 | 15.6:1 | 18% (126) |
| 2023-24 | 689 | 45.2 | 15.3:1 | 18% (126) |
| 2022-23 | 692 | 47.2 | 14.7:1 | 16% (111) |
| 2020-21 | 668 | 40 | 16.7:1 | 16% (104) |
| 2017-18 | 751 | 46.9 | 16.0:1 | 16% (122) |
| 2015-16 | 733 | 46 | 15.9:1 | 13% (94) |
| 2010-11 | 748 | 46 | 16.3:1 | 10% (76) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Southern Lehigh Intermediate School.
Since 2017-18: students down 7% (751 to 702); teachers down 4% (46.9 to 45).
About Southern Lehigh Intermediate School
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, is home to Southern Lehigh Intermediate School, a mid-sized middle school. The school enrolls 702 students in grades 4 through 6.
Southern Lehigh SD includes 5 schools. Together they enroll 3,057 students.
The share of White students at Southern Lehigh Intermediate School is 78%, a majority. The remaining students are 8% Asian, 8% Hispanic, and 3% multiracial. Census figures show Lehigh County is about 62% White. On a 0 to 100 scale, the school's diversity index is 37, compared with 70 nationally.
The school has 45 full-time-equivalent teachers and a ratio of 15.6 students per teacher. Middle schools in Pennsylvania have an average ratio of 13.2:1. The school reported 18% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch in 2024-25. Public schools in Lehigh County average 70%.
The allk12 BeatsExpectations score for Southern Lehigh Intermediate School is +5.7 points: 75.6% actual, 69.9% predicted.
Looking at the county, Lehigh County, the median household earns about $80,079 a year, 34% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 8% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Counting Southern Lehigh Intermediate School, Lehigh County has 83 public schools.
Southern Lehigh Middle School is about 0.3 miles from Southern Lehigh Intermediate School, the shortest distance to any other public school. The five-mile area around Southern Lehigh Intermediate School holds at least 8 other public schools. The school's 75.6% average proficiency ranks 2nd among 9 nearby schools.
The National Center for Education Statistics classifies the school's location as Suburb: Large, meaning it is in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
The 2020-21-to-2024-25 change in enrollment was a 5% increase, from 668 to 702. Staffing shifted too: the ratio moved from 16.7:1 to 15.6:1.
On allk12, people connected to Southern Lehigh Intermediate School can post about pickup and drop-off, after-school programs, and teacher feedback. Current and former families are welcome to add their experience.
Lehigh County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
378,792
Census ACS
Median income
$80,079
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
34%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
8%
Below federal line
Schools in county
83
56,984 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Southern Lehigh SD
- Southern Lehigh SHSHigh · 1,013 students
- Southern Lehigh Middle SchoolMiddle · 471 students
- Liberty Bell Elementary SchoolElementary · 445 students
- Hopewell Elementary SchoolElementary · 426 students
Other schools in Bethlehem
- Liberty High SchoolHigh · 2,541 students
- Lehigh Valley Academy Regional CSCombined · 1,878 students
- Freedom High SchoolHigh · 1,792 students
- East Hills Middle SchoolMiddle · 966 students
- Nitschmann Middle SchoolMiddle · 731 students
- Northeast Middle SchoolMiddle · 715 students
Nearby schools
- Southern Lehigh Middle School0.3 mi · 471
- Southern Lehigh SHS0.5 mi · 1,013
- Hopewell Elementary School1.4 mi · 426
- Liberty Bell Elementary School1.9 mi · 445
- Arts Academy CS3.5 mi · 296
- Salisbury Elementary School3.6 mi · 461
Frequently asked questions
About Southern Lehigh Intermediate SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Southern Lehigh Intermediate School?
Southern Lehigh Intermediate School enrolls approximately 702 students in grades 04-06.
Is Southern Lehigh Intermediate School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Southern Lehigh Intermediate School is a middle school covering grades 04-06.
How many teachers does Southern Lehigh Intermediate School have?
Southern Lehigh Intermediate School employs 45 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 15.6:1.
What is the student diversity at Southern Lehigh Intermediate School?
Student demographics at Southern Lehigh Intermediate School are roughly 78% White, 8% Hispanic, 2% Black, 8% Asian, 3% Two or more.
Who oversees Southern Lehigh Intermediate School?
Southern Lehigh Intermediate School is overseen by Southern Lehigh SD in Lehigh County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.