Carmel Elementary School

Carmel Elementary School is a PK–5 school with 700 students in Carmel, IN, part of the high-performing Carmel Clay Schools district, which ranks 5th of 374 Indiana districts. The school is strong statewide: in 2025–2026 it ranked 125th of 1,015 Indiana elementary schools—the 88th percentile—with 4 stars. Over the past decade it never fell below the 86th percentile, generally alternating between 4 and 5 stars, and its best recent year was 2024–2025 at 68th of 1,005 with 5 stars. Within its own elite district, though, it sits in the lower-middle of nearby Carmel elementaries.

In 2025–2026 ILEARN all-grade proficiency, the school was below the district in all subjects: 57.85% ELA vs. 70.76%, 68.02% math vs. 71.81%, and 59.22% science vs. 72.59%. Math is its relative strength—only 3.79 points below the district and above Woodbrook, Forest Dale, and Mohawk Trails—while science is its clearest weakness, the lowest among seven nearby same-district elementaries shown. It still beats state averages in every tested grade/subject, often by 15–25 points. Fifth-grade social studies is a standout at 72.57%, 25.37 points above the state. ELA is below Clay Center, Smoky Row, Cherry Tree, and Mohawk Trails.

Attendance is a clear strength: chronic absenteeism fell to 4.4% in 2024–2025, below the district’s 6.4% and far below the state’s 16.7%; only Smoky Row (3.2%) and Mohawk Trails (2.9%) were lower among nearby campuses. Its free/reduced-lunch rate is 23%, the highest among sampled same-district peers (Smoky Row 7.66% to Mohawk Trails 18.6%), so it serves a more economically diverse population. Resources are middle-of-pack: $12,140 per student in 2023–2024, a 14.2 student–teacher ratio, and 700 students. Compared with nearby non-Carmel schools, it outperforms Nora Elementary in MSD Washington Township by wide margins, has better attendance than Carey Ridge, but trails Oak Trace in Westfield-Washington Schools in all three tested subjects.