Bernard Middle, St Louis MO - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Bernard Middle

Bernard Middle sits in the Mehlville R-IX School District, serving grades six through eight in a regular public school setting. The school is located in the St. Louis area, an independent city with a mix of residential neighborhoods and a diverse economy, though the school itself is in St. Louis County, near the southern edge of the city limits. The broader community is anchored by major employers like Barnes-Jewish Hospital and research universities, as well as cultural institutions such as Forest Park and the Saint Louis Zoo, which are a relatively short drive away.

The student body is predominantly white, with a moderate share of students from other racial and ethnic backgrounds. About a quarter of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, placing the school in a moderately lower-poverty context compared to many other public schools. The enrollment is a mid-sized middle school for its grade band.

On state assessments, Bernard Middle shows a mixed pattern. In math, proficiency rates vary noticeably by grade level. A bit less than half of sixth graders scored at the proficient level or above, while a larger share of seventh graders met that bar. Eighth-grade math proficiency drops to the lowest of the three grades tested. In English language arts, the pattern is different: just under half of sixth and seventh graders scored proficient or above, while eighth graders reached a higher proficiency rate, the strongest result for the school across all tested subjects and grades. Science, tested only in eighth grade, shows about half of students scoring proficient or above. Taken together, the school's overall proficiency index sits above the midpoint when compared with other districts in St. Louis County, meaning its combined performance across subjects and grades is stronger than the typical district in the county.

The school is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet. The district brief, based on publicly reported information, did not identify any recent changes such as a referendum, curriculum overhaul, or boundary shift, so the context parents see today is largely stable on those fronts. Housing in the area shows home values that are somewhat above the national benchmark, and rents that are modest relative to incomes, suggesting a neighborhood where homeownership is attainable for many families but not as affordable as some other parts of the St. Louis region.

Because Bernard Middle serves only grades six through eight, there is no graduation rate to report. The school's grade band means that outcome is not relevant here. Similarly, data on chronic absenteeism, discipline, and course access were not available in the provided information. A parent interested in those areas may want to ask the school directly.

For families considering Bernard Middle, the academic picture is one where math performance softens for the oldest students, while reading and language arts show a stronger finish. The school's proficiency is a notch above the average among its county peers, but the drop in eighth-grade math suggests a subject where the school may want to focus attention. The community context is an established suburban area within reach of St. Louis's cultural and economic assets, with a student body that is majority white and not heavily concentrated in poverty. This is a middle school that fits a family looking for a mid-sized, regular public program in a stable district, where the academics sit solidly in the middle to slightly above range for the area.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 647%

School 47% · District 56% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

Grade 757%

School 57% · District 54% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

Grade 841%

School 41% · District 39% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 644%

School 44% · District 48% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 743%

School 43% · District 50% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Grade 858%

School 58% · District 57%

▲ 19 pts above state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

Science

Grade 851%

School 51% · District 49% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 17 pts above state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

This schoolMEHLVILLE R-IX, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 6Lower-income30%Higher-income49%19 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income26%Higher-income49%24 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income32%Higher-income52%20 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income41%Higher-income63%21 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income25%Higher-income51%26 pp gap