Best Public Schools in Zip Code 46235

ZIP code 46235 on Indianapolis's far east side is home to three public schools serving grades K–12: Andrew J Brown Academy (elementary, K–8, 435 students), James & Rosemary Phalen Leadership Academy Middle School (grades 7–8, 296 students), and James and Rosemary Phalen Leadership Academy High School (grades 9–12, 587 students). Total enrollment is 1,318. No alternative schools are listed. All three serve high-poverty populations, with free/reduced-lunch rates between 68.82% and 73.31% — about 70.6% across the group.

The middle school is the brightest spot. Its chronic absenteeism is 9.6%, well below the state's 16.7% and far below the other two schools, and its student-teacher ratio of 12.8 is the lowest here. Its rank percentile has climbed from 12 to 15 to 18, and proficiency has risen, though it remains low: Grade 8 Math is 7.74% versus the state's 34.2%. Andrew J Brown Academy holds the only grade-level result in the ZIP above the state comparison — 8th Grade Math at 34.88% versus 34.2% — but it also has the highest absenteeism (35.1%) and the highest student-teacher ratio (31.0), and its rank percentile has slipped from 21 to 17 to 15.

The high school is the most challenged: 0 stars, 1st percentile, SAT Math at 0% versus the state's 25.6%, SAT reading and writing at 9.7% versus 51.9%, and a 77.7% graduation rate versus 89.7%. It spends the most per student ($16,283) yet posts the weakest results. District ratings are similarly low: James and Rosemary Phalen Leadership Academy High School ranks 371st of 374, James & Rosemary Phalen Leadership Academy Middle School 324th of 374, and Andrew J Brown Academy 311st of 374. Poverty is similar across all three, but attendance, staffing, and test results vary widely, pointing to school-level factors beyond economics alone.