Best Public Schools in Indianapolis, IN

Indianapolis, Indiana is home to 233 schools — 146 elementary, 33 middle, 43 high and 11 alternative — spread across Indianapolis Public Schools and surrounding township districts such as MSD Washington Township and Perry Township Schools. The city's schools divide sharply: a small group of elite performers sits at the top, another group struggles badly at the bottom, and the middle is thin. District averages hide this, since Indianapolis Public Schools ranks near the bottom statewide as a district yet contains several top-ranked individual schools.

Among the clearest standouts is Herron High School, ranked 3rd of 374 with 5 stars, a 97.9% graduation rate, SAT ERW proficiency of 74.77% and math at 40.19%. Purdue Polytechnic High School North posts the area's top SAT math result at 47.62%, and Ben Davis University High School pairs a 99.0% graduation rate with only 7.2% chronic absenteeism despite 73.6% free/reduced lunch. Elementary standouts include Decatur High Ability Academy (91.92% math) and IPS magnets Merle Sidener Academy 59 and Joseph J. Bingham School 84. H. L. Harshman Middle School jumped from 397th to 63rd statewide.

At the other end, Christel House DORS ranks 374th of 374 with a 29.0% graduation rate and 82.0% chronic absenteeism, and George Washington High School graduates 60.1% of students with very low SAT proficiency. Chronic absenteeism is the strongest warning sign, and math is the deepest systemic weakness — only a handful of high schools meet the state's 25.6% SAT math benchmark. Still, poverty is not destiny: high-poverty schools such as IN Math & Science Academy and Paramount Brookside outperform many wealthier peers.