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Best Public Schools in Merrillville, IN

New rankings! Indiana test scores for the 2025-26 school year were just released — SchoolDigger posted updated rankings this week.

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At a glance

Schools

6,163

Students

Districts

Top rankedHenry P Fieler Elementary School315^th of 1,015 Indiana elementary schools

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Biggest riser

Henry P Fieler Elementary School up 249 spots statewide this year

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Smallest classes

John Wood Elementary School 10.8 students per teacher

SchoolDigger ratings

3★

2★

1★

0★

1 school without a SchoolDigger rating (too few tested students)

Compare Indiana cities →See the top-ranked Indiana schools →

Summary:

Merrillville, Indiana has 9 schools — 6 elementary, 2 middle and 1 high school — serving about 6,163 students. Eight belong to Merrillville Community School Corp (5,904 students), and one is the standalone K–8 Higher Institute of Arts & Technical (259 students). Elementary students make up 38.6% of enrollment, middle schoolers 27.0% and high schoolers 34.3%. Merrillville Community School Corp itself ranks 256 of 374 Indiana districts, in the 32nd percentile with 2 stars.

Academically, Henry P Fieler Elementary School leads the city: 315 of 1,015 statewide (69th percentile, 3 stars), with all-grade proficiency of 47.68% in ELA, 56.95% in math and 51.43% in science — far above the district averages near 31% in each subject. John Wood Elementary School is close behind (51st percentile, 3 stars) at 46.67% ELA and 54.44% math, though its 20.75% science is a clear weakness. Jonas E Salk Elementary School posts solid math (43.53%) and the city's best attendance (12.6% chronic absenteeism), while Merrillville Intermediate School has the second-lowest absenteeism (13.2%) and proficiency slightly above district averages.

At the other end, Higher Institute of Arts & Technical faces the steepest challenges: 0 stars, 3rd percentile, 32.5% chronic absenteeism and proficiency of 11.38% in ELA, 4.79% in math and 10.87% in science, despite the city's highest per-student spending ($15,371). Homer Iddings Elementary School also struggles (14th percentile, 20.00% ELA) even with the lowest free/reduced lunch rate at 44.3%. Pierce Middle School is below district in ELA and math, and Merrillville High School posts a strong 91.2% graduation rate but low SAT proficiency and 25.7% chronic absenteeism. Spending and poverty do not map cleanly onto results, and achievement tends to dip in the upper grades.

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Ranking:

E Elementary M Middle H High A Alternative P Private

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2026)				Ranking (2025)				SAT Evidence-based Reading and Writing (2026)	SAT Mathematics (2026)	ILEARN English Language Arts (2026)							ILEARN Math (2026)							ILEARN Science (2026)			ILEARN Social Studies (2026)	ILEARN Biology (2026)	Per Pupil Expenditures (2024)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients (2025)	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2026)	Statewide Rank (2026)	State Percentile (2026)	SchoolDigger Rating (2026)	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	Rank Change from Previous Year	SAT Evidence-based Reading and Writing 11th Grade	SAT Mathematics 11th Grade	ILEARN English Language Arts 3rd Grade	ILEARN English Language Arts 4th Grade	ILEARN English Language Arts 5th Grade	ILEARN English Language Arts 6th Grade	ILEARN English Language Arts 7th Grade	ILEARN English Language Arts 8th Grade	ILEARN English Language Arts All Grades	ILEARN Math 3rd Grade	ILEARN Math 4th Grade	ILEARN Math 5th Grade	ILEARN Math 6th Grade	ILEARN Math 7th Grade	ILEARN Math 8th Grade	ILEARN Math All Grades	ILEARN Science 4th Grade	ILEARN Science 6th Grade	ILEARN Science All Grades	ILEARN Social Studies 5th Grade	ILEARN Biology End of Course	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
Higher Institute of Arts & Technical	Public, Charter	K-8	5861 Harrison Street	Merrillville	46410	Lake County	Higher Institute of Arts & Technical	Yes	No	No	Yes	(219) 359-1522	259	18	14.3	79.5%	8 (3.1%)	221 (85.3%)	16 (6.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (5.4%)	6.1	981^st of 1015 public elementary schools	3.3%		8.3	948^th of 1005 public elementary schools	5.7%	33			10.3	21.1	7.4	11.1	9.1	12.5	11.4	6.9	10.5	3.7	3.7	0.0	6.3	4.8	10.5	11.1	10.9	7.4		$15,371	$4,858	$10,514
Edgar L Miller Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-4	5901 Waite St	Merrillville	46410	Lake County	Merrillville Community School Corp	No	No	No	Yes	(219) 650-5303	330	26	12.4	61.2%	22 (6.7%)	244 (73.9%)	45 (13.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (5.8%)	26.1	762^nd of 1015 public elementary schools	24.9%		26.9	756^th of 1005 public elementary schools	24.8%	6			35.8	30.6					33.6	29.9	22.5					26.7	26.5		26.5			$12,671	$2,389	$10,282
Merrillville Intermediate School	Public	5-6	1400 W 61st Ave	Merrillville	46410	Lake County	Merrillville Community School Corp	No	No	No	Yes	(219) 650-5306	788	61	13.0	54.4%	66 (8.4%)	494 (62.7%)	167 (21.2%)	2 (0.3%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	58 (7.4%)								(n/a)					30.7	33.9			32.3			35.7	31.7			33.7		30.2	30.2	36.2		$11,520	$1,224	$10,296
Henry P Fieler Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-4	407 W 61st Ave	Merrillville	46410	Lake County	Merrillville Community School Corp	No	No	No	Yes	(219) 650-5301	466	31	14.9	62.4%	30 (6.4%)	308 (66.1%)	100 (21.5%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	27 (5.8%)	67.5	315^th of 1015 public elementary schools	69.0%		45.7	564^th of 1005 public elementary schools	43.9%	249			40.7	55.7					47.7	58.0	55.7					57.0	51.4		51.4			$11,723	$1,847	$9,876
Homer Iddings Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-4	7249 VanBuren St	Merrillville	46410	Lake County	Merrillville Community School Corp	No	No	No	Yes	(219) 650-5302	535	36	14.6	44.3%	59 (11.0%)	339 (63.4%)	97 (18.1%)	7 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	32 (6.0%)	14.5	876^th of 1015 public elementary schools	13.7%		15.6	854^th of 1005 public elementary schools	15.0%	22			22.3	17.5					20.0	30.1	24.7					27.5	16.5		16.5			$12,269	$2,089	$10,180
John Wood Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-4	6100 E 73rd Ave	Merrillville	46410	Lake County	Merrillville Community School Corp	No	No	No	Yes	(219) 650-5305	227	21	10.8	58.6%	43 (18.9%)	102 (44.9%)	66 (29.1%)	3 (1.3%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (5.3%)	52.1	499^th of 1015 public elementary schools	50.8%		40.5	617^th of 1005 public elementary schools	38.6%	118			43.2	49.1					46.7	56.8	52.8					54.4	20.8		20.8			$12,508	$891	$11,617
Jonas E Salk Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-4	3001 W 77th Ave	Merrillville	46410	Lake County	Merrillville Community School Corp	No	No	No	Yes	(219) 650-5304	565	43	13.0	52.4%	65 (11.5%)	325 (57.5%)	130 (23.0%)	7 (1.2%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	36 (6.4%)	40.9	611^th of 1015 public elementary schools	39.8%		52.1	483^rd of 1005 public elementary schools	51.9%	128			37.6	33.0					35.3	40.2	47.0					43.5	34.8		34.8			$10,755	$1,055	$9,700
Merrillville High School	Public	9-12	276 E 68th Pl	Merrillville	46410	Lake County	Merrillville Community School Corp	No	No	No	No	(219) 650-5307	2,115	139	15.2	47.3%	125 (5.9%)	1,476 (69.8%)	386 (18.3%)	15 (0.7%)	3 (0.1%)	1 (0.0%)	109 (5.2%)	23.7	324^th of 415 public high schools	21.9%		28.3	311^th of 429 public high schools	27.5%	13	32.3	11.1																			29.6	$12,245	$663	$11,582
Pierce Middle School	Public	7-8	199 E 70th Pl	Merrillville	46410	Lake County	Merrillville Community School Corp	No	No	No	Yes	(219) 650-5308	878	69	12.8	53.2%	58 (6.6%)	581 (66.2%)	183 (20.8%)	5 (0.6%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	50 (5.7%)	27.3	352^nd of 486 public middle schools	27.6%		23.9	363^rd of 480 public middle schools	24.4%	11							28.6	25.1	26.8					20.7	17.9	19.2						$11,123	$835	$10,288

Cities Near Merrillville

City	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
Crown Point	3.8 mi	10	27^th
Hobart	3.9 mi	9	318^th
Gary	3.95 mi	27	392^nd
Lake Station	5.25 mi	4	385^th
Valparaiso	6.38 mi	24	59^th

See the top IN Indiana cities

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Indiana Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.