Best Elementary Schools in Zip Code 46403

Summary:

There are two elementary schools serving zip code 46403: Charter School of the Dunes and Banneker Elementary at Marquette. Both schools are rated 0 stars by SchoolDigger and consistently rank in the bottom quartile of Indiana elementary schools. When comparing the two schools, Banneker Elementary at Marquette shows slightly higher proficiency rates in English Language Arts and Math for most grade levels in the 2024-2025 data. However, Charter School of the Dunes serves a student population with a much higher rate of free and reduced-price lunch recipients (95.1%) compared to Banneker Elementary at Marquette (69.93%). Both schools have an identical chronic absenteeism rate of 17.8% for the 2023-2024 school year, suggesting a potential shared challenge impacting student attendance. Gary Community School Corp, which serves Banneker Elementary at Marquette, spends considerably more per student ($18,627) than Charter School of the Dunes ($13,255). Despite this higher spending, Banneker Elementary at Marquette shows only marginal improvements in test scores compared to Charter School of the Dunes, and both are performing at very low levels. The student-teacher ratios are very similar for both schools, indicating that class size is not a significant differentiating factor in their performance. Here are the key insights discovered about Elementary Schools located in zip code 46403: * **Consistent Underperformance:** Both schools in zip code 46403 are performing significantly below the state average in standardized tests, as indicated by their low proficiency rates across all subjects and grade levels. Their consistent low rankings on SchoolDigger further support this observation. * **Identical Chronic Absenteeism:** A striking similarity is the identical chronic absenteeism rate of 17.8% for both schools in the 2023-2024 school year. This suggests a potential systemic issue within the zip code or a shared challenge impacting student attendance. * **Socioeconomic Disparities:** Charter School of the Dunes serves a student population with a much higher rate of free and reduced-price lunch recipients (95.1%) compared to Banneker Elementary at Marquette (69.93%). This indicates a significant socioeconomic disparity between the student bodies of these two schools within the same zip code. * **Spending vs. Performance:** Banneker Elementary at Marquette spends considerably more per student ($18,627) than Charter School of the Dunes ($13,255). Despite this higher spending, Banneker Elementary at Marquette shows only marginal improvements in test scores compared to Charter School of the Dunes, and both are performing at very low levels. This raises questions about the effectiveness of resource allocation in both institutions. * **Grade-Level Performance Variations:** * **English Language Arts:** While Banneker Elementary at Marquette generally shows slightly higher ELA proficiency across grades, Charter School of the Dunes shows a notable increase in proficiency for 7th and 8th graders in the 2024-2025 data (16% and 24.32% respectively), which are still below the Indiana average but higher than their lower grades. * **Mathematics:** Banneker Elementary at Marquette demonstrates stronger performance in 3rd-grade math (20.75% proficiency) compared to Charter School of the Dunes (7.59% proficiency) in the 2024-2025 data. However, for 5th grade math, Charter School of the Dunes' 4.62% proficiency is slightly higher than Banneker's 8.33% in the 2024-2025 data. * **Student-Teacher Ratio:** The student-teacher ratios are very similar for both schools (15.6 for Charter School of the Dunes and 15.7 for Banneker Elementary at Marquette), suggesting that class size is not a significant differentiating factor in their performance.