Summary:
ZIP code 46545, covering the Mishawaka area of Indiana, contains 8 schools serving roughly 7,541 students: 5 elementary schools, 2 middle schools, and 1 high school, split between the high-performing Penn-Harris-Madison School Corp and the lower-performing School City of Mishawaka.
The two districts look very different. Penn-Harris-Madison ranks 34th of 374 districts (91st percentile, 5 stars) and enrolls about 80.8% of the students in this list, while Mishawaka ranks 272nd of 374 (27th percentile, 1 star). Penn High School is the academic anchor, ranking 15th of 415 with a 97.5% graduation rate and just 8.0% chronic absenteeism. Schmucker Middle School (93rd percentile) and Bittersweet Elementary School (88th percentile) also rank near the top, and Elsie Rogers Elementary School is improving quickly, with science proficiency jumping from 43.55% to 61.4% while spending the least in the ZIP ($9,435 per student). At the other end, Liberty Elementary School (15th percentile) and John J Young Middle School (30th percentile) post the lowest scores, while Battell Elementary School is the clearest turnaround, rising from 24th to 40th percentile.
Two patterns stand out for parents. First, attendance tracks closely with achievement: the lowest-absenteeism schools, Bittersweet (5.2%) and Elsie Rogers (7.0%), are high performers, while John J Young (28.1%) and Battell (24.8%) are not. Second, spending and poverty do not tell the whole story — the two highest-spending schools are also among the lowest-ranked, and Walt Disney Elementary School has the ZIP's highest free/reduced-lunch rate (61.33%) yet still earns 3 stars. Note also that Penn High School alone holds 48.9% of the enrollment listed here.
Thank you for your feedback!