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How has Benjamin Franklin Middle School changed in the last five years, for better or worse?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
823
Middle
DISTRICT 728 · STATE 594
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·VALPARAISO COMMUNITY SCHOOLS·NCES 181197001881
Benjamin Franklin Middle School
605 Campbell, Valparaiso, IN 46385 · (219) 531-3020 · Porter County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE23-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL823 STUDENTS
A
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 93% of Indiana public middle schools
- ATest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- A-Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
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
14.7:1
56 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.4:1 · STATE 15.6:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
25%
202 students
DISTRICT 37% · STATE 50%
Community
6
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 6 | 271 | 33% |
| Grade 7 | 257 | 31% |
| Grade 8 | 295 | 36% |
Student demographics
38%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 45% · 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
School pathway
Students here typically continue to
Benjamin Franklin Middle School→Valparaiso High School
Based on grade levels within Valparaiso Community Schools. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
ILEARN 2024-25 . % At or Above ProficiencyEnglish Language Arts
61.9%
IN avg 39.2%
Math
60.2%
IN avg 41.1%
What this means: On the ILEARN, Indiana's statewide test, about 62 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 60 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
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
62.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
58.2%
based on IN schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+4.4pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 63% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 58% typical for Indiana schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Indiana's top nor bottom 10%.
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 Benjamin Franklin Middle School
Benjamin Franklin Middle School's state test result (62.5% proficient) is higher than 5 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Benjamin Franklin Middle School this school | 823 | 24.5% | 62.5% |
| Summit Middle School Fort Wayne | 789 | 24.5% | 58.4% |
| Colonel John Wheeler Middle School Crown Point | 1,061 | 27.0% | 52.9% |
| Robert Taft Middle School Crown Point | 1,067 | 22.4% | 54.4% |
| East Tipp Middle School Lafayette | 547 | 23.9% | 55.4% |
| Hanover Central Middle School Cedar Lake | 647 | 20.2% | 49.1% |
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 Benjamin Franklin Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Indiana | In Porter County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 62.5% | #20 of 324 | #4 of 10 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 60.2% | #25 of 325 | #5 of 10 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 61.9% | #19 of 325 | #4 of 10 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 823 | #72 of 334 | #2 of 11 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.7:1 | #147 of 314 | #8 of 11 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 37.5% | #174 of 315 | #8 of 11 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 24.5% | #304 of 330 | #10 of 11 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +3.1% | #90 of 110 | N/A |
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
823
+11 (+1%) vs 2020
+18% since 1990-91, when it was 697
Student : Teacher
14.7:1
was 17.3:1
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 | 823 | 56 | 14.7:1 | 25% (202) |
| 2023-24 | 806 | 57 | 14.1:1 | 22% (180) |
| 2022-23 | 821 | 50.7 | 16.2:1 | 22% (182) |
| 2020-21 | 812 | 47 | 17.3:1 | 23% (187) |
| 2017-18 | 798 | 51.7 | 15.4:1 | 21% (168) |
| 2015-16 | 816 | 46 | 17.7:1 | 17% (141) |
| 2010-11 | 785 | 41 | 19.1:1 | 17% (137) |
| 2000-01 | 733 | 42 | 17.4:1 | 10% (71) |
| 1990-91 | 697 | 40 | 17.4:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Benjamin Franklin Middle School.
About Benjamin Franklin Middle School
Benjamin Franklin Middle School is listed by the National Center for Education Statistics as a middle school in Valparaiso, Indiana. Enrollment is 823 students in 2024-25, and the school serves grades 6 through 8. Against the 594-student average for middle schools in Indiana, enrollment here is 39% higher.
Valparaiso Community Schools has a total of 11 schools and 6,325 students, Benjamin Franklin Middle School among them.
White students account for 78% of enrollment at Benjamin Franklin Middle School. The remaining students are 13% Hispanic, 5% multiracial, 2% Asian, and 2% Black. The chance that two students picked at random at Benjamin Franklin Middle School belong to different racial or ethnic groups, known as the diversity index, is 38%.
The school has about 14.7 students per teacher and 56 full-time-equivalent teachers. The average ratio among middle schools in Indiana is 15.6:1, higher than at this school. About 25% of enrolled students meet the income rules for free or reduced-price lunch. That is lower than the 34% average for public schools in Porter County.
allk12 grades Benjamin Franklin Middle School an A. The grade compares the school only with Indiana public middle schools, because each state gives its own test.
Benjamin Franklin Middle School's actual average proficiency rate on state tests (62.5%) and its predicted rate (58.2%) put it outside the top and bottom 10% of Indiana schools.
In Porter County (population about 174,818), median household income is about $87,972, 31% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 8% of residents live below the federal poverty line. A total of 55 public schools operate in Porter County, serving about 25,813 students.
Central Elementary School is the closest public school, about 0.3 miles away in a straight line. Benjamin Franklin Middle School is one of several public schools in the area, with at least 8 others within five miles. The nearest schools with test data average 68.2%, higher than Benjamin Franklin Middle School's 62.5%.
Benjamin Franklin Middle School falls in the Suburb: Small locale category, used for schools in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population under 100,000.
From 2020-21 to 2024-25, enrollment held near 823, starting from 812. The ratio of students to teachers went from 17.3:1 to 14.7:1 over the same years.
Discussions about Benjamin Franklin Middle School may include sports tryouts, band and choir, and theater. Questions from prospective families are welcome too.
Porter County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
174,818
Census ACS
Median income
$87,972
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
31%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
8%
Below federal line
Schools in county
55
25,813 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Valparaiso Community Schools
- Valparaiso High SchoolHigh · 2,089 students
- Thomas Jefferson Middle SchoolMiddle · 632 students
- Cooks Corners Elementary SchoolElementary · 487 students
- Heavilin Elementary SchoolElementary · 479 students
- Flint Lake Elementary SchoolElementary · 476 students
- Memorial Elementary SchoolElementary · 434 students
Other schools in Valparaiso
- Valparaiso High SchoolHigh · 2,089 students
- Thomas Jefferson Middle SchoolMiddle · 632 students
- Cooks Corners Elementary SchoolElementary · 487 students
- Heavilin Elementary SchoolElementary · 479 students
- Flint Lake Elementary SchoolElementary · 476 students
- Boone Grove High SchoolHigh · 467 students
Other Benjamin Franklin Middle schools
6 other US public schools in 6 states are named Benjamin Franklin Middle. Benjamin Franklin Middle School is the 2nd largest of the 7.
- Benjamin Franklin MiddleRocky Mount, VA · 1,382 students
- Benjamin Franklin Middle SchoolLevittown, PA · 754 students
- Benjamin Franklin Middle SchoolSpringfield, IL · 709 students
- Benjamin Franklin Middle SchoolRIDGEWOOD, NJ · 627 students
- Benjamin Franklin Middle SchoolWAYNE, MI · 619 students
Nearby schools
- Central Elementary School0.3 mi · 131
- Memorial Elementary School0.4 mi · 434
- Northview Elementary School0.7 mi · 276
- Parkview Elementary School1.2 mi · 213
- Thomas Jefferson Middle School1.3 mi · 632
- Thomas Jefferson Elementary School1.4 mi · 285
Frequently asked questions
About Benjamin Franklin Middle SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Benjamin Franklin Middle School?
Benjamin Franklin Middle School enrolls approximately 823 students in grades 06-08.
Is Benjamin Franklin Middle School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Benjamin Franklin Middle School is a middle school covering grades 06-08.
How many teachers does Benjamin Franklin Middle School have?
Benjamin Franklin Middle School employs 56 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 14.7:1.
What is the student diversity at Benjamin Franklin Middle School?
Student demographics at Benjamin Franklin Middle School are roughly 78% White, 13% Hispanic, 2% Black, 2% Asian, 5% Two or more.
What district is Benjamin Franklin Middle School in?
Benjamin Franklin Middle School is part of Valparaiso Community Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.