The top reported proficiency rate is 27% in Science. The lowest is 5% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Central Ms
Central MS serves grades five through eight in Reading, a dense urban city that is the county seat of Berks County and Pennsylvania's fourth-largest city. The school enrolls roughly 1,700 students across the four middle grades. The student body is overwhelmingly Hispanic and economically disadvantaged; all students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and roughly nine in ten students are Hispanic or Latino. Smaller shares are Black and white. Data on English learner enrollment and special education enrollment were not available.
Reading itself is a majority-Latino city undergoing active revitalization. The downtown is unusually walkable for a small Pennsylvania city, anchored by Penn Street and civic spaces like Penn's Common, the Reading Public Museum, and the BARTA bus system. The city has a long history of manufacturing and is now anchored by employers including Reading Hospital, East Penn Manufacturing, Amazon fulfillment operations, and specialty steel manufacturing. State-backed downtown redevelopment is underway, including the Fifth and Penn project restoring historic buildings and adding new residential units, and the Buttonwood Gateway affordable-housing and revitalization initiative in Northwest Reading. The housing market is tighter than it was a year ago, with rising listing prices and growing activity; median home values in the Reading area are below state and national benchmarks, and rental affordability (rent as a share of household income) sits around one-fifth.
On state standardized testing, Central MS's results are substantially below the midpoint among Berks County districts. In English language arts, proficiency on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment was in the very low single digits. In math, proficiency was similarly low. The most recent science testing result available was from the 2022-23 school year and showed proficiency in the low twenties. The school's overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile relative to other Berks County districts.
Reading School District, Central MS's parent district, operates without a property tax increase for 2025-26, a notable choice when most neighboring Berks County districts raised rates that year. The district is a primary beneficiary of Pennsylvania's new adequacy and tax-equity supplements created after the state's 2023 Commonwealth Court ruling finding the school funding system unconstitutionally inequitable. The district is also opening a new Reading High School Innovation Academy in 2026-27 to reduce crowding at the main high school and expand STEM pathways.
A parent or prospective student should know that Central MS sits in a community with strong walkability and active civic and cultural life, and that the district is receiving increased state investment and taking visible steps to reduce overcrowding and broaden academic pathways. At the same time, the school's test results are well below those of other middle schools in the county, and a parent may want to look into further detail with the school about instructional supports, intervention programs, and the broader resource picture that shapes these outcomes.
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