Summary:
ZIP code 46221 covers the Decatur Township area of southwest Indianapolis and contains 11 schools — 8 elementary, 1 middle, and 2 high schools — serving 7,002 students. Enrollment is concentrated in MSD Decatur Township (7 schools, 76.3% of students), followed by Indianapolis Public Schools (3 schools, 20.0%) and one standalone high school, Excel Center - Decatur (3.7%).
The academic standout is Decatur High Ability Academy, a small school ranked 3rd of 1,015 statewide with 5 stars and proficiency above 90% in Math and Science. It is selective or high-ability, so its results aren't directly comparable to neighborhood schools. Among open-enrollment schools, Blue Academy is strongest: the highest Math proficiency of any comprehensive school here, the lowest chronic absenteeism (11.7%), and the only 2-star rating outside the academy. Decatur Central High School has a 91.0% graduation rate, above the state's 89.7%, but low SAT results — a possible gap between graduating and being college-ready.
Most other schools face real challenges. Excluding the high-ability academy, average ELA, Math, and Science proficiency is roughly 18–21%, and average chronic absenteeism is about 25% versus the state's 16.7%, with 7 of 10 schools above the state rate. Daniel Webster School 46 - an Exploratory School (2nd percentile, 0 stars) and William Penn Middle School - a STEM School (11th percentile) are the lowest ranked, despite the ZIP's highest per-student spending. Decatur Middle School is low in ELA and Math yet reports 91.43% Biology EOC proficiency, an anomaly worth verifying. Excel Center - Decatur serves a nontraditional population, with a 17.8% graduation rate and no test data, so it isn't comparable to traditional high schools.
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