Best Public Schools in Zip Code 46619

ZIP code 46619 in South Bend, Indiana contains four public schools — two elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school — serving students from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade, all within the South Bend Community School Corp, which ranks 320th of 374 Indiana districts at the 14th percentile with 1 star. Together the schools enroll 2,102 students: 929 in elementary (44.2%), 378 in middle (18.0%), and 795 in high school (37.8%). All four schools currently sit between the 1st and 4th rank percentiles, placing them among the lowest-ranked schools in the state.

Comparing the schools, Harrison Elementary School has the strongest elementary/middle academic profile, with the highest all-grade ELA proficiency in the ZIP (7.44%), the highest all-grade Math proficiency (10.29%), and the ZIP's highest single current proficiency figure in 4th-grade Math at 22.58%. Wilson Elementary School leads in Science (13.64%) and has the lowest chronic absenteeism at 37.4%, below the district's 40.3% but still far above the state's 16.7%. Navarre Middle School is the most challenged on every listed measure: lowest ELA (5.96%), Math (3.17%), and Science (3.85%), highest chronic absenteeism (55.8%), highest free/reduced lunch (79.37%), highest per-student spending ($20,817), and smallest student-teacher ratio (9.3). Washington High School is the largest school and shows a notable gain in SAT Evidence-based Reading and Writing, rising from 10.76% to 21.88%, but SAT Math is only 1.56% and the graduation rate is 65.1%.

Across the ZIP, chronic absenteeism is the most consistent problem. The weighted rate of about 48.9% is nearly three times the state's 16.7%, and Navarre and Washington both exceed 54%. Every available school proficiency rate falls below its district average, and state gaps are larger still — Harrison's 4th-grade Math at 22.58% compares with 52% statewide, and Washington's SAT Math at 1.56% compares with 25.6%. Year-over-year trends are mixed rather than uniformly declining: Harrison and Wilson saw Math slip while Science and Social Studies improved; Navarre posted small gains from very low baselines; Washington improved sharply in reading while Math and Biology stayed mostly flat. Notably, Navarre's higher spending and smaller classes have not yet translated into stronger measured outcomes, which likely reflects a higher-need student population rather than spending itself.