Summary
James Cole Elementary School is a K–5 school in Lafayette, IN, serving 321 students as part of Tippecanoe School Corp, a district that ranks 83rd of 374 Indiana districts (78th percentile, 4 stars).
Academically, the school is currently middle-of-the-road. In 2025–2026 it ranked 434th of 1,015 Indiana elementary schools (57th percentile, 3 stars), down from 275th of 1,005 (73rd percentile, 4 stars) the year before. Reading/language arts is the clearest gap: 38.55% proficiency, about 13 points below the district's 51.44% and lower than every nearby Tippecanoe school except Mayflower Mill Elementary School. Math, at 51.2%, is essentially tied with the district, and science (44.23%) beats the state's 4th-grade benchmark of 43.8% but trails the district. Grade levels split sharply: 5th grade shines in math at 60.34% (district 52.44%, state 42%), while 3rd- and 4th-grade reading and math fall below both district and state — 4th-grade reading at 30.77% is the weakest result. Notably, results declined across reading, math, science, and 5th-grade social studies compared with 2024–2025.
Attendance is a genuine strength: chronic absenteeism was 7.1% in 2024–2025, better than the district's 10.5% and the state's 16.7%, and lower than every nearby school except Wyandotte Elementary (6.8%). With 31.78% of students on free/reduced lunch, the school has less economic disadvantage than Wea Ridge Elementary School, Mayflower Mill Elementary School, Woodland Elementary School, Dayton Elementary School, and the Lafayette School Corporation schools. Spending was $10,692 per student in 2023–2024, typical for Tippecanoe but below Lafayette peers, and the 16:1 student-teacher ratio is not especially low. Worth noting: at 321 students, it is smaller than every same-district neighbor.
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