Coulston Elementary School

As a mid-sized primary school in Shelbyville, Indiana, Coulston Elementary School educates 428 students from grades K through 5, part of Shelbyville Central Schools.

Shelbyville Central Schools comprises 7 schools with combined enrollment of 3,912 students; Coulston Elementary School is among them.

For racial and ethnic makeup, Coulston Elementary School reports that the largest single group is White, at 65% of enrollment. Other groups include 24% Hispanic, 6% multiracial, 4% Asian. The wider county runs roughly 91% White, putting the school's mix visibly less White than the area baseline.

On the resource side, On paper, Coulston Elementary School has 35 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 12.4:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 15.5:1 average. Roughly 57% of students at Coulston Elementary School qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. Set against Shelby County (around 45%), the school's rate is meaningfully above typical.

After controlling for student poverty, Coulston Elementary School tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 34.9% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 32.0%.

In the surrounding community, the surrounding county (Shelby County) reports that median household income runs about $72,190, roughly 22% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and the poverty rate sits near 12%. In all, Shelby County runs 18 public schools (combined enrollment of about 7,418 students), of which Coulston Elementary School is one.

Nearest neighbor: Golden Bear Preschool, around 1.0 miles off. Within five miles, there are 7 other public schools. On composite proficiency, Coulston Elementary School comes 5th of 5 in the immediate cluster, below the nearby-schools average of 37.0%.

Geographically, the school is in a town-based area.

Trend over the last 7 years. Over the past 7-year window, the student count ticked down 25%: 568 students in 2018 compared to 428 in 2025. The student-to-teacher ratio fell from 24.0:1 in 2018 to 12.4:1 today.

In the discussion threads here, members of the Coulston Elementary School community share and discuss fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.