32 public K-12 schools in Reading from NCES Common Core of Data: enrollment, grade span, demographics, and Civil Rights Data Collection statistics for every active campus.
National city placement
According to NCES CCD 2024-25, Reading has more public-school enrollment than 95% of the 4,487 US cities in this directory. Reading is among the largest city school systems in this directory by enrollment, but its campuses are divided among 5 districts. That combination matters: citywide averages blend separate budgets, staffing policies, attendance boundaries, and program rules. For a family comparing schools here, the district column is as important as the city average; two nearby campuses may answer to different boards and draw on different F-33 funding pools.
15 of Reading's 32 listed schools use NCES's combined or “other” grade-level classification. Citywide averages therefore blend campuses serving unusually broad or nonstandard grade spans with conventional elementary, middle, and high schools. Grade configuration is a first-order comparison here, not a minor label.
84.6% of enrollment in reporting Reading schools is eligible for free lunch, while the city list spans 5 districts. That pairing makes a citywide average especially easy to misread: the need measure follows students, but staffing decisions, calendars, program rules, and federal allocations are administered through separate district structures. The 41-point gap between Reiffton Sch and Riverside El Sch shows how much reported resource capacity can vary inside the same municipal label. Compare schools within the same district first, then use the city view to see how those local systems differ.
That concentration means Reading-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the largest entity. Grade level: High. The share measures enrollment concentration only; it does not establish how districts allocate programs, capital, or staff. Enrollment-weighted aggregates give this entity more weight than any smaller peer, while an unweighted entity average treats every record equally.
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Reading school enrollment ranges from 20 students (lowest) to 4,879 students (highest), a spread of 4,859 students. That ratio is an extreme outlier spread — among the widest gaps observed anywhere in this dataset. Per-school staffing and program breadth can differ sharply at opposite ends of that enrollment range, so the city average should not be treated as a typical campus.
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
The reported share is at least 75%, indicating a high concentration of measured economic need. Title I operates under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA, 2015), but its statutory allocation uses additional LEA-level counts and rules not represented by this average. This percentage is an economic-need context measure; it does not establish a Title I award, show dollars received, or describe how funds are distributed among campuses.
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Each school district has independent budgeting, hiring, and service delivery authority. The fragmentation reflects historical patterns of inter-municipal boundary lines that pre-date modern city growth, students in different parts of the same city can attend different districts with different per-pupil spending, calendars, and graduation requirements. Per-region variation is largest in fragmented systems because each school district sets its own budget, contracts, and priorities without higher-level coordination above the regulatory floor.
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
student-teacher ratio is the simplest comparative metric but it does not capture the full picture: the ratio counts FTE classroom teachers against total enrollment, push-in specialists, English-language aides, special-education co-teachers, and counselors are not included in most reporting Variation between sub-units within Reading is typically wider than the Reading-aggregate figure suggests.
| # | School | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Reiffton Sch | 57 |
| 2. | Jacksonwald El Sch | 56 |
| 3. | Exeter Twp Jhs | 54 |
| 4. | C E Cole Intermediate Sch | 50 |
| 5. | Owatin Creek El Sch | 49 |
| 6. | Lorane El Sch | 49 |
| 7. | Antietam Ms/Hs | 49 |
| 8. | Exeter Twp Shs | 48 |
| 9. | Muhlenberg Hs | 44 |
| 10. | Muhlenberg El Ctr | 43 |
| 11. | Glenside El Sch | 43 |
| 12. | Southwest Ms | 40 |
| 13. | Muhlenberg Jr Ms | 39 |
| 14. | Southern Ms | 39 |
| 15. | Thirteenth & Union El Sch | 39 |
| 16. | Northeast Ms | 36 |
| 17. | Central Ms | 35 |
| 18. | Reading Shs | 33 |
| 19. | Twelfth & Marion El Sch | 33 |
| 20. | Northwest Ms | 31 |
| 21. | Lauers Park El Sch | 31 |
| 22. | Thirteenth & Green El Sch | 30 |
| 23. | Amanda E Stout El Sch | 28 |
| 24. | Northwest El Sch | 28 |
| 25. | Tenth & Penn El Sch | 28 |
| 26. | Millmont El Sch | 27 |
| 27. | Tyson-Schoener El Sch | 25 |
| 28. | Sixteenth & Haak El Sch | 24 |
| 29. | Tenth & Green El Sch | 23 |
| 30. | Mt Penn Primary Ctr | 21 |
| 31. | Riverside El Sch | 16 |
| 32. | Reading Muhlenberg Ctc | - |
Ranked by the Simpson student-body diversity index (0-100) from NCES race and ethnicity data, where higher means a more evenly mixed student body. It measures mix, not quality.
Reiffton Sch has the highest Resource Investment Index among the Reading schools in this federal-data comparison at 57/100. The index summarizes reported staffing, counseling, gifted-program, and attendance inputs; it is not an academic rating.
Reading has 32 public schools with a total enrollment of 25,394 students. Average student-teacher ratio: 15.2:1.
Side-by-side: Compare any two schools or districts in Pennsylvania →
Data from NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 and Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) 2021-22. The Resource Investment Index uses reported student-teacher ratio, counselor access, gifted programs, and attendance; it is not an academic rating. Cities must include at least five schools to be listed. This public-data comparison is for informational purposes: verify current enrollment, attendance boundaries, and programs with the school district before acting. See the guide to understanding NCES data.
