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Gary Virtual Academy

Public, Alternative Grades K-12

389^th

SchoolDigger Rank ?

of 429 Indiana Alternative Schools

Better than 9% of Indiana alternative schools

Summary

Gary Virtual Academy is an alternative public school serving grades K-12 in Gary, Indiana, with a total enrollment of 59 students. The school is part of the Gary Community School Corporation, which is ranked 364 out of 380 districts in Indiana and has a 0-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Despite the school's higher spending per student of $11,053 in 2023-2024, Gary Virtual Academy is struggling with significant challenges. Its 4-year graduation rates have declined from 87.2% in 2022-2023 to 38.4% in 2023-2024, which is much lower than the district average of 60.4%. The school also has very high chronic absenteeism rates, ranging from 19.2% to 66.0% over the past two years, far exceeding the district average. Academically, Gary Virtual Academy students perform poorly on standardized tests, with only 4.76% of all grades proficient or better in ILEARN/English Language Arts and 0% proficient or better in math in 2024-2025, compared to the district averages.

When compared to nearby alternative schools like Trojan Virtual Academy, Eagle Park Community School, and Thea Bowman Leadership Academy, Gary Virtual Academy performs significantly worse on key metrics like test scores and graduation rates. The school's high chronic absenteeism rates and low academic performance suggest the need for a comprehensive review of its strategies and resource allocation to better support student success.

Students ?

20.0

Student/teacher ratio ?

$11,053

Per pupil spending ?

62.2%

Free/discounted lunch ?

1800 E 35th Ave
Gary, IN 46409

(219) 881-5466

District: Gary Community School Corp

Racial breakdown:

African American:

86.7%

Two or more races:

6.7%

White:

4.4%

See top rated Indiana elementary schools

Compare Gary Virtual Academy to nearby alternative schools!

At a glance

▲ Ranking trend: Improving — 2nd percentile in 2022 → 9th in 2025

Strengths

✓Ranking is trending up — up 7 percentile points since 2022

Worth a look

!Test scores below the Indiana average (5% vs 40% meeting standards)

!In the lower quartile statewide (9th percentile)

!Graduation rate below the Indiana average (33% vs 90%)

Students meeting standards (2024-2025) ?

This school5%

District avg9%

Indiana avg40%

389^th of 429

Indiana public high schools ?

Bottom 9%▲ up 8 pts since 2022

From bottom 1% (2022) to bottom 9% (2025)

See the entire ranking list of Indiana High Schools →

★★★★★

SchoolDigger rating ?

364^th of 380Gary Community School Corp among Indiana districts

Statewide rank percentile over time (100 = the top-ranked school in the state; click a legend item to add a student group)

Middle school ranking

Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	Indiana percentile	Rating
2024	3.8	491 of 491	0.0%	☆☆☆☆☆
2023	3.9	489 of 489	0.0%	☆☆☆☆☆

High school ranking

Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	Indiana percentile	Rating
2025	9.9	389 of 429	9.3%	☆☆☆☆☆
2024	5.0	422 of 432	2.3%	☆☆☆☆☆
2023	2.9	394 of 398	1.0%	☆☆☆☆☆
2022	3.0	405 of 409	1.0%	☆☆☆☆☆

African American

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	Indiana percentile	Rating
2023	14.1	121 of 125	3.2%	☆☆☆☆☆
2022	11.7	119 of 125	4.8%	☆☆☆☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	Indiana percentile	Rating
2023	4.4	374 of 379	1.3%	☆☆☆☆☆

How student groups rank statewide ? (each group's percentile vs the same group at other schools — higher is better; the +/- beside each compares the group with this school's overall percentile)

High school

African American (2023)3rd percentile~ school

Low Socio Economic Status (2023)1st percentile~ school

By subject vs Indiana (2024-2025) ?

Evidence-based Reading and Writing25%-30 vs state

English Language Arts5%

Math0%

Mathematics0%-25 vs state

★

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Schools Near Gary Virtual Academy

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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 ()				Ranking ()				SAT Evidence-based Reading and Writing (2025)	SAT Mathematics (2025)	ILEARN English Language Arts (2025)							ILEARN Math (2025)							ILEARN Science (2025)			ILEARN Social Studies (2025)	ILEARN Biology (2025)	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	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score ()	Statewide Rank ()	State Percentile ()	SchoolDigger Rating ()	Average Standard Score ()	Statewide Rank ()	State Percentile ()	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
Gary Virtual Academy	Public, Alternative	K-12	1800 E 35th Ave	Gary	46409	Lake County	Gary Community School Corp	No	No	No	No	(219) 881-5466	45	2	20.0	62.2%	2 (4.4%)	39 (86.7%)	1 (2.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (6.7%)								(n/a)	25.0	0.0						0.0	4.8						0.0	0.0						$11,053	$4,617	$6,436
Steel City Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	2650 W 35th Avenue	Gary	46408	Lake County	Steel City Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(219) 750-1010	286	32	8.9	78.7%	5 (1.7%)	263 (92.0%)	9 (3.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (3.1%)								(n/a)	54.2	0.0	31.6	0.0	20.8	11.5	16.7	58.8	20.9	15.8	0.0	4.2	7.7	0.0	17.7	6.7	12.5	7.7	10.0	4.2	43.5	$18,967	$8,599	$10,368
21st Century Charter School of Gary	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	556 Washington St	Gary	46402	Lake County	21st Century Charter School of Gary	Yes	No	No	Yes	(219) 886-9339	1,180	10	118.0	77.4%	1 (0.1%)	1,088 (92.2%)	64 (5.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	26 (2.2%)								(n/a)	25.7	2.7	26.3	20.5	19.4	8.6	11.7	20.3	18.3	42.5	30.8	20.2	8.8	4.0	5.1	19.2	15.4	10.3	13.2	6.4	16.5	$13,965	$3,768	$10,197
Thea Bowman Leadership Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	3401 W 5th Ave	Gary	46406	Lake County	Thea Bowman Leadership Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(219) 944-3100	773	45	17.1	63.8%	0 (0.0%)	717 (92.8%)	38 (4.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (2.3%)								(n/a)	26.5	0.0	14.0	14.6	18.4	13.3	14.1	30.3	17.7	15.5	15.0	15.0	11.5	3.2	8.8	11.1	8.3	0.0	6.6	12.5	11.1	$14,770	$5,689	$9,081
Gary Lighthouse Charter School	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	725 Clark Road	Gary	46406	Lake County	Gary Lighthouse Charter School	Yes	No	No	Yes	(219) 977-9583	1,138	75	15.1	98.9%	14 (1.2%)	985 (86.6%)	101 (8.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	37 (3.3%)								(n/a)	10.2	3.7	19.4	20.5	6.5	24.7	18.0	20.0	18.1	11.9	6.4	10.4	6.9	7.6	8.0	8.5	18.0	15.1	16.6	1.3	11.3	$16,928	$7,371	$9,557
Eagle Park Community School	Public, Alternative	K-12	2150 W 97th Place	Crown Point	46307	Lake County	NW Indiana Special Education Coop	No	No	No	No	(219) 769-4000	87	8	10.8	26.4%	53 (60.9%)	8 (9.2%)	21 (24.1%)	1 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (4.6%)								(n/a)									11.8							0.0						$00
Porter County Education Services	Public, Alternative	K-12	750 Ransom Rd	Valparaiso	46385	Porter County	Porter County Education Services	No	No	No	No	(219) 464-9607	0	18	.0		0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()								(n/a)	33.3	0.0							5.0							9.5
Northwest Indiana Online School	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	601 W Morgan Ave	Chesterton	46304	Porter County	Duneland School Corporation	No	No	Yes	No	(219) 983-3743	130	1	117.1	33.1%	92 (70.8%)	7 (5.4%)	25 (19.2%)	1 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (3.8%)								(n/a)	33.3	4.8					43.8	31.8	37.7					25.0	14.3	23.1					43.5	$8,966	$2,746	$6,220

Frequently Asked Questions about Gary Virtual Academy

What is the racial makeup of Gary Virtual Academy?

Students at Gary Virtual Academy are 87% African American, 7% Two or more races, 4% White, 2% Hispanic.

How many students attend Gary Virtual Academy?

In the 2024-25 school year, 45 students attended Gary Virtual Academy.

Is Gary Virtual Academy a good school?

Gary Virtual Academy ranks in the bottom 9.3% of Indiana alternative schools.

What district is Gary Virtual Academy in?

Gary Community School Corp

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Latest Indiana data All new data »

2024–25 graduation ratesJan 5, 2026

2024–25 attendance dataSep 4, 2025

2022–23 through 2023–24 school spending dataJul 16, 2025

2024–25 ILEARN & SAT test scoresJul 16, 2025

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.