Perry Meridian Middle School

Perry Meridian Middle School is a grades 7–8 school on Indianapolis's south side serving 1,278 students, part of Perry Township Schools and sharing a campus with Perry Meridian 6th Grade Academy, which feeds into it.

The headline is a big gap between how the state rates this school and how it rates the district. The school ranked 135th of 486 Indiana middle schools in 2025–26 (72nd percentile) with 4 stars, while Perry Township Schools ranked 244th of 374 with 2 stars. It has held 4 stars every year since 2018–19, up from 2 stars in 2015–16. Its students score above the Indiana state average in all four tested grade-and-subject areas, and it outperforms the district's only other 7–8 school, Southport Middle School, by 11.1 points in ELA and 11.7 points in Math — even though the two schools are nearly identical in size and about three miles apart. About 65% of students come from low-income families, and few comparable schools turn that profile into proficiency as efficiently.

Attendance is improving: chronic absenteeism dropped from 20.3% to 17.6% over three years, better than Southport Middle School, Lynhurst 7th & 8th Grade Center, Decatur Middle School and Beech Grove Middle School, though still slightly above the state average and well above suburban peers such as Greenwood Middle School and Center Grove Middle School Central. Class sizes are steady at roughly 16 students per teacher, and spending is $12,264 per student — third-highest in the comparison group. The remaining challenges are Math, where scores sit closest to state levels, 8th grade, which trails 7th grade, and attendance compared with suburban schools.