Middle school (grades 6-8) · Portland, ME

Lincoln Middle School

Federal NCES profile for Lincoln Middle School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 52/100.

2024-25 NCES dataMiddle school (grades 6-8)NCES 230993000275
0/100100/10052/100
👥 S:T ratio
64
🌟 Gifted program
70
🎓 Counselors
62
📋 Attendance
10
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →

The verdict

Lincoln Middle School earns 52/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 81% of Maine schools. It is also more racially and ethnically mixed than most Maine schools.

#1 of 3
middle schools in Portland · Resource Index
52
Resource Index · Higher
8.9:1
small classes for Maine
36.6%
free-lunch eligible

Lincoln Middle School has class sizes smaller than 81% of Maine schools. Computed live against every Maine school reporting to NCES.

By Resource Investment Index, Lincoln Middle School ranks #1 of 3 middle schools in Portland, ME.

School address

Enrollment

382

Maine · 2024-25 NCES data

Teachers (FTE)

43.0

Federal CCD staff survey

Students per teacher

8.9:1

vs 11.1:1 Maine avg

-20% vs state

Free-lunch eligible

36.6%

vs 34.0% Maine avg

+8% vs state

Student-teacher ratio in context

How Lincoln Middle School compares with Maine and U.S. medians

Smaller classes than state median

Source: NCES Common Core of Data As of 2024-25 federal staff survey Total enrollment ÷ full-time-equivalent classroom teachers

What stands out at Lincoln Middle School

Lincoln Middle School is a mid-sized middle school in Portland, Maine, enrolling 382 students.

Class sizes run a bit leaner than typical: 8.9:1 puts it in the smaller third of Maine schools by student-teacher ratio.

Its free-meal eligibility rate of 36.6% lands close to the Maine typical range, neither a high- nor low-need campus by this measure.

Enrollment of 382 puts it in the larger third of Maine schools by headcount.

Its Resource Investment Index lands in the upper third of 569 scored Maine schools.

Against 135 statewide peers matched on enrollment and economic need, it ranks in the upper tier at #20.

Its student body is led by White (56%) and African American (22%), more mixed than most schools in the state (diversity index 63/100).

Counselor coverage is strong, about 191 students per counselor, inside the American School Counselor Association's recommended 250:1.

Chronic absenteeism is elevated: 35.9% of students missed 10% or more of school days (2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection).

Among Portland's middle schools, it stands alongside Lyman Moore Middle School (470 students): Lincoln Middle School is smaller than that campus by headcount and runs leaner classes (8.9:1 vs 9.2:1).

Portland Public Schools also operates Portland High School (912 students) and Deering High School (850 students) alongside Lincoln Middle School.

Sourced from NCES CCD, CRDC, and F-33 (federal records, not a quality verdict). How we source and compute this.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data + CRDC + F-33 · 2024-25

How Lincoln Middle School compares

Lincoln Middle School on the metrics families compare, against Maine and U.S. means.

Metric This school vs Maine Maine avg U.S. avg
Students per teacher 8.9:1 ▼ 20% 11.1:1 15.7:1
Free-lunch eligible 36.6% ▲ 8% 34.0% 51.7%
Enrollment 382 top 26% - -

Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25

8.9:1
Leaner classes than 93% of US schools, among the more generously staffed nationally.
382
Bigger than 45% of US schools by enrollment, mid-sized for the country.

Equity indicators (what these measure)

Economic need
36.6%
free-lunch eligible - 8% above the Maine average of 34.0%
Below the 40% Title I threshold; federal aid targets individual qualifying students rather than schoolwide programs.
Staffing depth
8.9:1
students per teacher - 20% below state mean
Top 19% in Maine - lower ratio than 81% of state schools
Well under the widely cited 15:1 individualized-attention benchmark, among the leaner class loads nationally.
Engagement
35.9%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
At or above 20%, the commonly used threshold for "high" chronic absenteeism, signaling significant barriers to regular attendance.
Funding equity
$20,442
per pupil, district-wide - above Maine avg of $20,083
Well above the U.S. public-school average, reflecting substantially higher local or state investment per enrolled student.
Support staff
Counselors2.0 FTE
Per 191 students, the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
24
in-school suspensions + 30 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 6.3 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 14.1 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.

Overview

  • Common Core of Data (June 2026): enrollment, staffing, and the student-teacher ratio above.
  • Civil Rights Data Collection: discipline counts and program access (AP, gifted, special education).
  • F-33 School District Finance Survey: the district-wide per-pupil spending figures below.

Three separate federal collections, each on its own reporting cadence - which is why this school's numbers line up on a consistent basis against every other school and state on this site, rather than mixing figures pulled from different survey years.

Student demographics

White 55.5%
African American 22.0%
Hispanic or Latino 9.2%
Two or More 7.6%
Asian 5.8%

Largest group: White at 55.5% of enrollment.

Student-body diversity index 62.6/100

Simpson diversity index - at 62.6, Lincoln Middle School is more mixed than the Maine school average of 20.6.

Programs

Gifted & talented Yes

Funding & spending

District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Portland Public Schools, which includes Lincoln Middle School.

$20,442
Per student
+2%
vs Maine
Avg $20,083
+23%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 68.1%
State 23.3%
Federal 8.7%

Source: NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey District-level finance · FY 2021-22 Per-pupil expenditure reflects the district-wide average. Individual school budgets are not reported at the federal level.

How Lincoln Middle School Compares to District-Mates

School Enrollment Economic Profile Student-Teacher Ratio
Portland High School Larger Similar economic need Higher S:T ratio
Deering High School Larger Higher economic need Higher S:T ratio
Harrison Lyseth Elem School Larger Similar economic need Higher S:T ratio
Amanda C Rowe School Similar size Similar economic need Higher S:T ratio
Lyman Moore Middle School Similar size Similar economic need Similar S:T ratio

Comparisons are relative to Lincoln Middle School's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.

Other Schools in This District

Portland Public Schools · 5 sibling schools

View district profile

Similar middle schools in Portland

2 comparable middle schools (grades 6-8) serving the same city.

Similar middle schools statewide

Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of Maine, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.

Next steps

Verify locally before acting on Lincoln Middle School's federal record.

Federal record (CCD 2024-25, CRDC 2021-22) - PlainSchools assigns no subjective rating; the composite quality score is a transparent, reproducible index computed from this cited federal data.

Frequently asked questions about Lincoln Middle School

How many students attend Lincoln Middle School?

Lincoln Middle School has 382 students enrolled. It is a middle school in Portland, ME.

What is the student-teacher ratio at Lincoln Middle School?

The student-teacher ratio at Lincoln Middle School is 8.9:1, which is 20% lower than the Maine average of 11.1:1 and 43% lower than the national average of 15.7:1. Lower ratios generally mean more individual attention per student.

What percentage of students receive free lunch at Lincoln Middle School?

36.6% of students at Lincoln Middle School are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Maine average of 34.0%.

What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Lincoln Middle School?

The largest demographic group at Lincoln Middle School is White at 55.5% of enrollment, in Portland, ME. Its student body is more racially and ethnically mixed than most US schools, with a diversity index of 62.6/100.

What is the Resource Investment Index for Lincoln Middle School?

Lincoln Middle School has a Resource Investment Index of 52/100 (higher reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 4 factors: student-teacher ratio, counselor availability, attendance rates. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).

How does Lincoln Middle School rank among middle schools in Portland?

By Resource Investment Index, Lincoln Middle School ranks #1 of 3 middle schools in Portland, ME. This compares federal resource and staffing data among local peers; it is not a test-score or academic ranking. See all middle schools in Portland on the city page.

Is Lincoln Middle School a good school?

Lincoln Middle School earns 52/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 81% of Maine schools. It is also more racially and ethnically mixed than most Maine schools. This is a resource snapshot, not an academic rating; see the Resource Investment Index question above for what the number does and doesn't measure.

What other schools are in Portland Public Schools?

Besides Lincoln Middle School, Portland Public Schools also operates Portland High School (912 students), Deering High School (850 students), and Harrison Lyseth Elem School (489 students). See the Portland Public Schools district page for the complete list.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) CCD + Public School Universe (2024-25), CRDC (2021-22), F-33 District Finance Survey (FY 2021-22) · 2024-25 Data as of the 2024-25 school year. Coverage from U.S. Department of Education NCES Common Core of Data. Varies by entity type; administrative districts and certain charter networks may report only a subset of fields.

All federal data sources used on this page

Full source list and how we compute each figure: methodology page.

View saved

Every figure on PlainSchools is rendered directly from the source NCES, CRDC and F-33 federal records, no number is typed in by an editor. Each school's figures reflect its most recent NCES/CRDC submission on file. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of June 2026.