Middle Schools in Bradford

There is one middle school in the Bradford area, Bradford Middle School, which serves grades 7 and 8 with a total enrollment of 408 students and a high-poverty population, as indicated by 60.54% of students qualifying for free or reduced lunch.

Bradford Middle School shows a mixed academic profile with notable strengths and weaknesses. The school is a standout in 7th-grade math, where 67% of students were proficient in the 2025-2026 school year, which is 14 percentage points above the state average. However, there is a dramatic internal gap, as 8th-grade math proficiency is only 39%, a 28-point difference that suggests a possible cohort effect or difference in instruction. The school also excels in Algebra 1, with proficiency jumping from 60% to 79% year-over-year, far exceeding the district average of 48%. Conversely, Civics is a significant weakness, with proficiency rates of 52-53% that are 18-24 points below the state average. The school's overall state ranking has remained stagnant in the low 30th percentile for three years, currently sitting at 774 out of 1,216 schools (2-star rating).

The most critical red flag for Bradford Middle School is its chronic absenteeism rate of 49.1% in the 2023-2024 school year, which is dramatically higher than the state average of 31.4% and the district average of 44.1%. This nearly 50% absenteeism rate likely has a direct negative impact on academic performance across all subjects and is the single most important issue to address for school improvement. The school spends $10,228 per student and has a student-teacher ratio of 21.4:1. While the school has bright spots in 7th-grade math and Algebra 1, the combination of high poverty, stagnant rankings, and an absenteeism crisis suggests that current strategies are not leading to meaningful, school-wide progress.