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What's the biggest difference between Career Academy Middle School and what you expected?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
414
Middle
STATE 594
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CAREER ACADEMY MIDDLE SCHOOL·NCES 180016402593
Career Academy Middle School
3801 Cresent Circle - Suite B, South Bend, IN 46628 · (574) 299-9800 · St. Joseph County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE12-CITYCHARTERTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL414 STUDENTS
D
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 9% 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
8.3:1
50 FTE teachers
STATE 15.6:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
60%
249 students
STATE 50%
Community
4
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 | 135 | 33% |
| Grade 7 | 131 | 32% |
| Grade 8 | 148 | 36% |
Student demographics
69%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
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
23.4%
IN avg 39.2%
Math
11.1%
IN avg 41.1%
What this means: On the ILEARN, Indiana's statewide test, about 23 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 11 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
18.2%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
33.0%
based on IN schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-14.7pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 18% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 33% 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 Career Academy Middle School
Career Academy Middle School's state test result (18.2% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 4 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Career Academy Middle School this school | 414 | 60.1% | 18.2% |
| Jefferson Traditional School South Bend | 591 | 59.4% | 13.3% |
| Broad Ripple Middle School - an IB World School Indianapolis | 623 | 57.9% | N/A |
| Washington Middle School Evansville | 331 | 68.0% | 17.6% |
| Memorial Park Middle School Fort Wayne | 627 | 61.1% | 40.0% |
| Barker Middle School Michigan City | 390 | 69.2% | 21.0% |
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 Career Academy Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Indiana | In St. Joseph County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 18.2% | #281 of 324 | #7 of 10 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 11.1% | #299 of 325 | #8 of 10 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 23.4% | #271 of 325 | #7 of 10 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 414 | #220 of 334 | #8 of 10 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 8.3:1 | #1 of 314 | #1 of 10 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 68.6% | #32 of 315 | #3 of 10 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 60.1% | #79 of 330 | #3 of 10 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +28.2% | #17 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
414
+47 (+13%) vs 2020
Student : Teacher
8.3:1
was 15.3:1
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 | 414 | 50 | 8.3:1 | 60% (249) |
| 2023-24 | 400 | 46 | 8.7:1 | 63% (250) |
| 2022-23 | 394 | 44 | 8.9:1 | 71% (280) |
| 2020-21 | 367 | 24 | 15.3:1 | 61% (225) |
| 2017-18 | 323 | 23 | 14.0:1 | 57% (185) |
| 2015-16 | 377 | 28 | 13.5:1 | 61% (229) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Career Academy Middle School.
About Career Academy Middle School
Career Academy Middle School is a middle school with a street address in South Bend, Indiana. It reports enrollment of 414 students in grades 6 through 8. That puts enrollment 30% below the 594-student average for middle schools in Indiana.
Career Academy Middle School operates as its own local education agency.
Black students make up 41% of enrollment at Career Academy Middle School, the largest share of any group. Next come 34% White, 15% Hispanic, and 9% multiracial. That compares with about 13% Black among all St. Joseph County residents. A diversity index of 69% means there is a 69% chance two randomly chosen students at Career Academy Middle School are from different groups.
There are 50 full-time-equivalent teachers at Career Academy Middle School, giving a ratio of 8.3:1. By comparison, the average for middle schools in Indiana is 15.6:1. A total of 249 students, or 60%, are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. The 46% average for public schools in St. Joseph County is 14 points lower.
Career Academy Middle School holds a D allk12 Grade, placing it above 9% of Indiana public middle schools.
Career Academy Middle School ranks in the bottom 10% of Indiana schools after adjusting test results for student poverty. Actual: 18.2%. Predicted: 33.0%. Difference: 14.7 points.
In St. Joseph County, where the school is located, 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. There are 73 public schools in the county, enrolling about 35,614, Career Academy Middle School among them.
Career Academy High School is less than a tenth of a mile from Career Academy Middle School, the shortest distance to any other public school. Counting only straight-line distance, at least 8 other public schools are within five miles. By average proficiency, Career Academy Middle School is 3rd among 6 schools close by.
Its NCES locale code is City: Mid-size: the school is inside a principal city with a population between 100,000 and 250,000. Federal records list Career Academy Middle School as a charter school.
Enrollment was 414 in 2024-25. In 2020-21, it was 367. The student-to-teacher ratio went down from 15.3:1 to 8.3:1.
Anyone can start a thread about athletics, class schedules, and weather closures at Career Academy Middle School. Teachers and staff are welcome to share updates too.
St. Joseph County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
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
Related schools
Other schools in South Bend
- Adams High SchoolHigh · 1,966 students
- Riley High SchoolHigh · 1,238 students
- Washington High SchoolHigh · 795 students
- Success Academy Primary SchoolElementary · 610 students
- Jefferson Traditional SchoolMiddle · 591 students
- Harrison Elementary SchoolElementary · 555 students
Nearby schools
- Career Academy High School0.0 mi · 481
- Dickinson Academy2.7 mi · 309
- Coquillard Elementary School2.9 mi · 305
- LaSalle Academy3.2 mi · 461
- Marquette Montessori Academy3.3 mi · 431
- Success Academy Primary School3.3 mi · 610
Frequently asked questions
About Career Academy Middle SchoolHow many students attend Career Academy Middle School?
Career Academy Middle School enrolls approximately 414 students in grades 06-08.
What grades does Career Academy Middle School serve?
Career Academy Middle School serves grades 06-08.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Career Academy Middle School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Career Academy Middle School is approximately 8.3:1 (50 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Career Academy Middle School?
At Career Academy Middle School, the student body is approximately 34% White, 15% Hispanic, 41% Black, 0% Asian, 9% Two or more.
Who oversees Career Academy Middle School?
Career Academy Middle School is overseen by Career Academy Middle School in St. Joseph County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.