Lew Wallace Elementary School

Lew Wallace Elementary School is a public elementary school in Hammond, Indiana, serving around 450 students in grades PK-6. The school is part of the School City of Hammond district, which is ranked 346 out of 380 districts in the state and has a 0-star rating from SchoolDigger. Lew Wallace Elementary has consistently ranked in the bottom quarter of Indiana elementary schools over the past decade.

Lew Wallace Elementary faces significant challenges, with very high chronic absenteeism rates, ranging from 17.8% to 37.1% over the past few years, and consistently underperforming on ILEARN tests compared to the district and state averages. In 2023-2024, only 18.72% of Lew Wallace students were proficient or better in English Language Arts, and just 18.82% were proficient in Math, compared to 17.3% and 13.04% for the district, respectively. The school also has very high rates of free and reduced-price lunch recipients, ranging from 60.89% to 78.28%, indicating a high level of economic disadvantage among the student population.

Interestingly, the nearby schools in the School City of Hammond district, such as Morton Elementary, Abraham Lincoln Elementary, and Washington Irving Elementary, also struggle with low test scores and high chronic absenteeism, suggesting systemic challenges within the district. In contrast, the James B. Eads Elementary School in the neighboring School Town of Munster district significantly outperforms Lew Wallace and the other Hammond schools, indicating that factors beyond the school's immediate environment may play a significant role in student outcomes.