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What do you wish you knew before starting at Southwest MS?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
574
Middle
DISTRICT 942 · STATE 594
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·READING SD·NCES 422004007675
Southwest Middle School
300 Chestnut St, Reading, PA 19602 · (610) 371-5934 · Berks County
GRADES 05–08MIDDLE13-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL574 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
12.0:1
48 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.4:1 · STATE 13.2:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
114%
652 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 | 130 | 23% |
| Grade 6 | 127 | 22% |
| Grade 7 | 149 | 26% |
| Grade 8 | 168 | 29% |
Student demographics
24%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
Southwest 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
21.9%
PA avg 51.1% . +1.4pp since 2023
Math
7.1%
PA avg 43.0% . +2.2pp since 2023
What this means: On the PSSA + Keystone, Pennsylvania's statewide test, about 22 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 up about 1 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 2 points.
PSSA + Keystone results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 21.9% | 7.1% |
| 2023-24 | 20.5% | 4.9% |
% Proficient or Advanced, all students and all tested grades.
Source: PSSA + Keystone. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
Where Southwest Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Pennsylvania | In Berks County |
|---|---|---|---|
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 7.1% | #484 of 513 ▲ 9 | #23 of 26 ▲ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 21.9% | #478 of 513 ▲ 13 | #23 of 26 no change |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 574 | #250 of 522 | #18 of 26 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 12.0:1 | #156 of 486 | #8 of 26 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 23.9% | #360 of 486 | #21 of 26 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 114% | #9 of 510 | #1 of 26 |
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
574
-113 (-16%) vs 2020
Student : Teacher
12.0:1
was 14.3:1
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 | 574 | 47.8 | 12.0:1 | N/A |
| 2023-24 | 652 | 44 | 14.8:1 | 100% (652) |
| 2022-23 | 671 | 43.8 | 15.3:1 | 100% (671) |
| 2020-21 | 687 | 48 | 14.3:1 | 100% (684) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Southwest Middle School.
About Southwest Middle School
Southwest Middle School is a mid-sized middle school in Reading, Pennsylvania, one of the schools in Reading SD. Enrollment stands at 574 students, covering grades 5 through 8.
Reading SD enrolls 16,423 students, and its 19 schools include Southwest Middle School.
Southwest Middle School is 87% Hispanic by enrollment. The next largest groups are 7% Black and 5% White. In Berks County overall, about 25% of residents are Hispanic. On the diversity index, which measures the chance that two random students are from different groups, Southwest Middle School scores 24%.
The school lists 47.8 full-time-equivalent teachers and a student-to-teacher ratio of 12.0:1. The average for middle schools in Pennsylvania is 13.2:1, so this school has fewer students per teacher.
In Berks County, median household income comes to about $79,777, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 28% of adults, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 9%. Berks County has 95 public schools with about 62,375 students, including Southwest Middle School.
A public school about 0.2 miles away, Tyson-Schoener Elementary School, is the closest to Southwest Middle School. Inside a five-mile radius, there are at least 8 other public schools.
The NCES locale for Southwest Middle School is City: Small, which covers schools inside a principal city with a population under 100,000.
The school's student count fell 16% between the 2020-21 and 2024-25 school years. Students per teacher dropped from 14.3 in 2020-21 to 12.0 in 2024-25.
Southwest Middle School has a community page on allk12 for topics such as pickup and drop-off, after-school programs, and teacher feedback. You can also rate the school on this page.
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
- Northwest Middle SchoolMiddle · 821 students
- Amanda E Stout Elementary SchoolElementary · 758 students
- Riverside Elementary SchoolElementary · 694 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 Southwest Middle schools
14 other US public schools in 10 states are named Southwest Middle. Southwest Middle School is the 9th largest of the 15.
- SOUTHWEST MIDDLEORLANDO, FL · 1,290 students
- Southwest Middle SchoolCharlotte, NC · 1,205 students
- SOUTHWEST MIDDLE SCHOOLPALM BAY, FL · 997 students
- SOUTHWEST MIDDLE SCHOOLSEARCY, AR · 913 students
- Southwest MiddleGastonia, NC · 832 students
Nearby schools
- Tyson-Schoener Elementary School0.2 mi · 408
- Lauers Park Elementary School0.5 mi · 615
- Southern Middle School0.7 mi · 661
- Amanda E Stout Elementary School0.7 mi · 758
- Tenth & Penn Elementary School0.7 mi · 345
- West Reading El Center0.8 mi · 310
Frequently asked questions
About Southwest Middle SchoolHow large is Southwest Middle School?
Southwest Middle School enrolls approximately 574 students in grades 05-08.
What age range does Southwest Middle School serve?
Southwest Middle School serves students from grade 05 through grade 08.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Southwest Middle School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Southwest Middle School is approximately 12.0:1 (48 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Southwest Middle School?
At Southwest Middle School, the student body is approximately 5% White, 87% Hispanic, 7% Black, 1% Two or more.
Is Southwest Middle School public or private?
Southwest Middle School is a public K-12 school, overseen by Reading SD.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.