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What's the most underrated thing about Belzer Middle School that outsiders don't know?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
1,119
Middle
DISTRICT 1,237 · STATE 594
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·MSD LAWRENCE TOWNSHIP·NCES 180567001023
Belzer Middle School
7555 E 56th St, Indianapolis, IN 46226 · (317) 964-6200 · Marion County
GRADES 07–08MIDDLE21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL1,119 STUDENTS
F
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 3% of Indiana public middle schools
- DTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- DBeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Indiana public middle schools
Student : Teacher
15.7:1
72 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 17.6:1 · STATE 15.6:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
64%
715 students
DISTRICT 56% · STATE 50%
Community
5
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other middle schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 7 | 559 | 50% |
| Grade 8 | 560 | 50% |
Student demographics
61%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 67% · STATE 57% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
ILEARN 2024-25 . % At or Above ProficiencyEnglish Language Arts
15.9%
IN avg 39.2%
Math
9.6%
IN avg 41.1%
What this means: On the ILEARN, Indiana's statewide test, about 16 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 10 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Indiana schools, those numbers are about 39 and 41.
Source: ILEARN. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of IN schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
12.8%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
30.3%
based on IN schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-17.6pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 13% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 30% typical for Indiana schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like Belzer Middle School
Belzer Middle School's state test result (12.8% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Belzer Middle School this school | 1,119 | 63.9% | 12.8% |
| Chapel Hill 7th & 8th Grade Center Indianapolis | 1,143 | 66.5% | 16.3% |
| Stonybrook Intermediate & Middle Indianapolis | 1,043 | 66.7% | 14.2% |
| Raymond Park Intermediate & Middle Indianapolis | 1,079 | 60.1% | 20.9% |
| Guion Creek Middle School Indianapolis | 833 | 55.3% | 15.7% |
| Creston Intermediate & Middle Schl Indianapolis | 1,106 | 63.7% | 15.2% |
Matched among Indiana middle schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Belzer Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Indiana | In Marion County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 12.8% | #303 of 324 | #27 of 33 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 9.6% | #305 of 325 | #29 of 33 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 15.9% | #307 of 325 | #27 of 33 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 1,119 | #23 of 334 | #9 of 37 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 15.7:1 | #189 of 314 | #23 of 35 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 60.5% | #78 of 315 | #24 of 35 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 63.9% | #64 of 330 | #17 of 36 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -7.3% | #119 of 187 | #8 of 13 |
Ranked against other public middle schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
1,119
-13 (-1%) vs 2020
-17% since 1990-91, when it was 1,345
Student : Teacher
15.7:1
was 17.7:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 1,119 | 71.5 | 15.7:1 | 64% (715) |
| 2023-24 | 1,139 | 68.8 | 16.6:1 | 84% (952) |
| 2022-23 | 1,183 | 62.3 | 19.0:1 | 81% (955) |
| 2020-21 | 1,132 | 64 | 17.7:1 | 73% (822) |
| 2017-18 | 1,207 | 63 | 19.2:1 | 73% (877) |
| 2015-16 | 1,162 | 60 | 19.4:1 | 70% (808) |
| 2010-11 | 1,186 | 36 | 32.9:1 | 55% (658) |
| 2000-01 | 1,219 | 68 | 17.9:1 | 29% (357) |
| 1990-91 | 1,345 | 74 | 18.2:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Belzer Middle School.
About Belzer Middle School
Students in Indianapolis, Indiana, attend Belzer Middle School, a large middle school. A total of 1,119 students attend the school, which covers grades 7 through 8. Against the 594-student average for middle schools in Indiana, enrollment here is 88% higher.
MSD Lawrence Township oversees Belzer Middle School and 15 other schools, with 16,747 students in total.
Black students account for 52% of enrollment at Belzer Middle School. Other groups include 33% Hispanic, 7% White, and 6% multiracial. The county population is about 27% Black. Belzer Middle School has a diversity index of 61%, compared with 70% for all US public school students.
The ratio of students to teachers is 15.7:1, with 71.5 full-time-equivalent teachers on staff. Across middle schools in Indiana, the average ratio is about 15.6:1. Lunch subsidy eligibility at Belzer Middle School is 64%.
allk12 grades Belzer Middle School an F. The grade compares the school only with Indiana public middle schools, because each state gives its own test.
Test results at Belzer Middle School are 17.6 points below what its student poverty level predicts. The average proficiency rate on state tests is 12.8%, compared with a predicted 30.3%, which ranks in the bottom 10% in Indiana.
In Marion County (population about 975,809), median household income is about $66,346, roughly 35% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and about 12% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Belzer Middle School is one of 274 public schools in Marion County, which together enroll about 161,456 students.
The nearest public school is Harrison Hill Elementary School, at about 0.2 miles. There are at least 8 other public schools within five miles. Among the 7 closest schools with test data, this one included, Belzer Middle School ranks 5th on average proficiency.
Belzer Middle School is coded as Suburb: Large in federal locale data.
Over 4 years, enrollment stayed close to where it was, going from 1,132 to 1,119. The number of students per teacher fell from 17.7 to 15.7 over 4 years.
The allk12 site hosts a discussion page for Belzer Middle School covering things like school events, clubs, and volunteer needs. Reviews and ratings from people who know the school are welcome.
Marion County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
975,809
Census ACS
Median income
$66,346
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
35%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
12%
Below federal line
Schools in county
274
161,456 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in MSD Lawrence Township
- Lawrence North High SchoolHigh · 2,799 students
- Lawrence Central High SchoolHigh · 2,517 students
- Fall Creek Valley Middle SchoolMiddle · 1,355 students
- Early Learning CenterElementary · 1,313 students
- Forest Glen Elementary SchoolElementary · 971 students
- Amy Beverland ElementaryElementary · 800 students
Other schools in Indianapolis
- Indiana Connections AcademyCombined · 5,376 students
- North Central High SchoolHigh · 3,682 students
- Franklin Central High SchoolHigh · 3,438 students
- Warren Central High SchoolHigh · 3,391 students
- Ben Davis High SchoolHigh · 3,315 students
- Pike High SchoolHigh · 3,188 students
Nearby schools
- Harrison Hill Elementary School0.2 mi · 750
- Lawrence Central High School0.2 mi · 2,517
- Hoosier College and Career Academy0.4 mi · 1,484
- Brook Park Elementary School0.7 mi · 637
- The Nature School of Central Indiana0.8 mi · 175
- Arlington Middle School - a STEM School1.6 mi · 365
Frequently asked questions
About Belzer Middle SchoolHow many students attend Belzer Middle School?
Belzer Middle School enrolls approximately 1,119 students in grades 07-08.
What grades does Belzer Middle School serve?
Belzer Middle School serves grades 07-08.
How many students per teacher at Belzer Middle School?
Approximately 15.7:1 students per teacher at Belzer Middle School.
How diverse is Belzer Middle School?
Belzer Middle School reports a student body of 7% White, 33% Hispanic, 52% Black, 1% Asian, 6% Two or more.
Is Belzer Middle School public or private?
Belzer Middle School is a public K-12 school, overseen by MSD Lawrence Township.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.