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SCHOOL COMMUNITY·PENN-HARRIS-MADISON SCHOOL CORP·NCES 180876002161

Bittersweet Elementary School

55860 Bittersweet, Mishawaka, IN 46545 · (574) 259-6341 · St. Joseph County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL494 STUDENTS
A
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 93% of Indiana public elementary schools
  • ATest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
  • ABeats 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 elementary schools

Enrollment
494
Elementary
DISTRICT 454 · STATE 436
Student : Teacher
21.5:1
23 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 17.4:1 · STATE 15.5:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
34%
168 students
DISTRICT 36% · STATE 50%
Community
6
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.

Enrollment by grade, 2024-25

GradeStudentsShare
Pre-K7515%
Kindergarten5511%
Grade 16012%
Grade 27515%
Grade 37215%
Grade 48016%
Grade 57716%

This year's kindergarten class (55) is 29% smaller than its 5th grade class (77).

Student demographics
34%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 50% · STATE 57% · US 70%
White
39780%
DISTRICT 69% · STATE 62% · US 43%
Hispanic
275%
DISTRICT 9% · STATE 15% · US 30%
Black
388%
DISTRICT 8% · STATE 14% · US 15%
Asian
51%
DISTRICT 6% · STATE 3% · US 6%
Two+
245%
DISTRICT 7% · STATE 6% · US 5%
Native American
10%
DISTRICT 0% · STATE 0% · US 1%
Pacific Islander
20%
DISTRICT 0% · STATE 0% · US 0%
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
Male
25051%
Female
24449%

Discussions

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Test scores

ILEARN 2024-25 . % At or Above Proficiency
English Language Arts
63.1%
IN avg 39.2%
Math
74.3%
IN avg 41.1%

What this means: On the ILEARN, Indiana's statewide test, about 63 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 74 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 · methodology
Tier
OUTPERFORMING
Top 10% of IN schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
65.7%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
51.5%
based on IN schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+14.3pp
above demographic expectation

What this means: About 66% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 51% typical for Indiana schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations ranks schools against others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school can post high scores and still fall short of its prediction, or post lower scores and still beat it. This school clears its prediction by about 14 points, placing it in Indiana's top 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 Bittersweet Elementary School

Bittersweet Elementary School's state test result (65.7% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 3 schools below with a result.

SchoolStudentsLow-incomeProficient
Bittersweet Elementary School this school49434.0%65.7%
Wakarusa Elementary School
Wakarusa
53433.0%63.8%
North Elementary School
Noblesville
44836.6%62.7%
North Elementary School
Danville
44635.9%N/A
Silver Creek Primary School
Sellersburg
51033.1%N/A
Ossian Elementary
Ossian
56633.9%46.4%
Matched among Indiana elementary 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 Bittersweet Elementary School ranks

Among elementary schools
MeasureThis schoolIn IndianaIn St. Joseph County
State test proficiency
ranked highest first
65.7%#93 of 983#5 of 40
Math proficiency
ranked highest first
74.3%#75 of 986#5 of 40
Reading proficiency
ranked highest first
63.1%#82 of 986#5 of 40
Enrollment
ranked largest first
494#395 of 1,079#15 of 42
Students per teacher
ranked fewest first
21.5:1#977 of 991#38 of 39
Diversity index
ranked most diverse first
34.3%#598 of 996#36 of 39
Free and reduced lunch
ranked highest share first
34.0%#867 of 1,058#33 of 41
Enrollment change since 2017-18
ranked steepest decline first
-9.9%#349 of 597#14 of 26
Ranked against other public elementary 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 2024-25
Enrollment
494
-5 (-1%) vs 2020
+18% since 1990-91, when it was 419
Student : Teacher
21.5:1
was 24.9:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data

Enrollment and staffing by year

School yearStudentsTeachers (FTE)Students per teacherFree and reduced lunch
2024-254942321.5:134% (168)
2023-245152322.4:130% (154)
2022-2352022.523.1:128% (148)
2020-214992024.9:122% (111)
2017-185482126.1:125% (137)
2015-165232026.1:124% (126)
2010-114292021.4:119% (81)
2000-015282323.0:17% (39)
1990-914192020.9:1N/A
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Bittersweet Elementary School.

About Bittersweet Elementary School

Bittersweet Elementary School is an elementary school in Mishawaka, Indiana, and it is part of Penn-Harris-Madison School Corp. It offers pre-K through 5 and has 494 students enrolled.

Penn-Harris-Madison School Corp is responsible for 15 schools, Bittersweet Elementary School included, with 11,329 students in all.

Of every 100 students at Bittersweet Elementary School, about 80 are White. After that, the student body is 8% Black, 5% Hispanic, and 5% multiracial. Census figures show St. Joseph County is about 71% White. A diversity index of 34% means there is a 34% chance two randomly chosen students at Bittersweet Elementary School are from different groups.

The school has 23 full-time-equivalent teachers and a ratio of 21.5 students per teacher. Elementary schools in Indiana average 15.5:1, 6.0 fewer students per teacher than here. Of all students at Bittersweet Elementary School, 34% are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. For comparison, public schools in St. Joseph County average 46%.

Among Indiana public elementary schools, Bittersweet Elementary School outscored 93%, which works out to an A on the allk12 Grade.

Test results at Bittersweet Elementary School are 14.3 points above what its student poverty level predicts. The average proficiency rate across its state test results is 65.7%, compared with a predicted 51.5%, which ranks in the top 10% in Indiana.

In the surrounding county, St. Joseph County, median household income comes to about $66,868, about 34% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and roughly 9% of residents are in poverty. The county has 73 public schools and about 35,614 students.

Penn High School sits about 0.3 miles from Bittersweet Elementary School. Around the school, at least 8 other public schools are within five miles. On state test proficiency, Bittersweet Elementary School ranks 1st in a group of 7 nearby schools.

The school's locale code, Suburb: Large, means it is in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.

Over 4 years, enrollment stayed close to where it was, going from 499 to 494. By 2024-25, the school had 21.5 students per teacher, compared with 24.9 in 2020-21.

The discussion board for Bittersweet Elementary School is open to topics like special education services, counseling, and support programs. Teachers and staff are welcome to share updates too.

St. Joseph County at a glance

View full county profile
Population
273,040
Census ACS
Median income
$66,868
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
34%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
9%
Below federal line
Schools in county
73
35,614 students

Quick facts

School name
Bittersweet Elementary School
District
Penn-Harris-Madison School Corp
Address
55860 Bittersweet, Mishawaka, IN 46545
Phone
(574) 259-6341
County
St. Joseph County
Level
Elementary
Grade range
PK–05
Total enrollment
494
Teachers (FTE)
23
Student–teacher ratio
21.5:1
Free and reduced lunch
168 (34%)
Locale
21-Suburb: Large
NCES ID
180876002161
Charter school
No
Virtual school
No

Related schools

Other schools in Penn-Harris-Madison School Corp
Other schools in Mishawaka
Nearby schools

Frequently asked questions

About Bittersweet Elementary School
How many students attend Bittersweet Elementary School?
Bittersweet Elementary School enrolls approximately 494 students in grades PK-05.
Is Bittersweet Elementary School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Bittersweet Elementary School is an elementary school covering grades PK-05.
How many teachers does Bittersweet Elementary School have?
Bittersweet Elementary School employs 23 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 21.5:1.
What is the student diversity at Bittersweet Elementary School?
Student demographics at Bittersweet Elementary School are roughly 80% White, 5% Hispanic, 8% Black, 1% Asian, 5% Two or more.
What district is Bittersweet Elementary School in?
Bittersweet Elementary School is part of Penn-Harris-Madison School Corp.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.
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