Circle City Prep Charter School

Circle City Prep Charter School is a small charter network in Indianapolis, Indiana that serves grades K–8 across two schools: Circle City Preparatory Elementary School (grades K–6, enrollment 321) and Circle City Preparatory Middle School (grades 6–8, enrollment 97). Together they enroll 418 students, with about 76.8% at the elementary school. Both schools carry the same district rating — 294th of 374 in Indiana, 21st percentile, 1 star — and both serve very high-poverty populations, with free/reduced lunch at 94.7% at the elementary school and 93.81% at the middle school. There is no high school in this network, so the data cover only the K–8 portion.

The elementary school is the brighter spot, especially in math and science. In 2025–2026, all-grade math proficiency was 45.39% (district: 32.94%) and science was 20.93% (district: 12.50%). Third-grade math reached 60%, above the state's 51.9% — the highest single grade-level result in the data. Both subjects improved sharply from 2024–2025, with math rising from 28.86% to 45.39%, science from 4.08% to 20.93%, and ELA from 16.11% to 21.28%. Weak areas remain: 5th-grade social studies was 0% against a state rate of 47.2%, and upper-elementary ELA was low at 11.63% in 4th grade and 6.98% in 5th grade, compared with 42.2% statewide. Chronic absenteeism was 23.5%, above the state's 16.7% but below the district's 28.2%.

The middle school raises the biggest concerns. Chronic absenteeism was 42.1% — more than double the state rate of 16.7% and well above the district's 28.2%. In 2025–2026, all-grade math was 17.54% (district: 32.94%) and science was 4.44% (district: 12.50%), with 6th-grade science at 4.44% against a state rate of 41.2%. Its relative bright spot is ELA at 23.68%, slightly above the district's 22.35% and above the elementary school's 21.28%; 8th-grade ELA was 33.33%, though still below the state's 44%. Because the middle school has only 97 students, each student can represent roughly one percentage point, so results may swing year to year. Per-student spending of $13,868 is available only for the elementary school (2023–2024), so spending cannot be compared.