Middle Schools in Central Dauphin School District

The Central Dauphin School District in Pennsylvania is home to four middle schools that serve students in grades 6-8. These schools vary in their academic performance, with Central Dauphin Middle School consistently ranking among the top 200 middle schools in the state and outperforming the district and state averages on standardized tests. In contrast, Central Dauphin East Middle School and Swatara Middle School struggle with lower test scores and proficiency rates.

The data reveals that Linglestown Middle School also performs better than the district and state averages on English Language Arts tests, while maintaining a low dropout rate of 1.6%. However, this school, along with Central Dauphin East Middle School and Swatara Middle School, serve a significantly higher percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a more economically disadvantaged population. This socioeconomic factor may be a contributing factor to the lower academic performance observed in these schools.

Despite the performance disparities, the district maintains a consistent level of spending per student across all four middle schools, ranging from $13,952 to $15,056. Additionally, the district has effectively addressed student retention, as evidenced by the uniformly low dropout rates across all schools. By identifying and addressing the root causes of the underperformance in the lower-ranked schools, the Central Dauphin School District has the potential to raise the overall academic achievement within its middle school system and provide more equitable educational opportunities for all students.