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What's something Darden Elementary School does better than most schools?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
375
Elementary
DISTRICT 377 · STATE 436
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·SOUTH BEND COMMUNITY SCHOOL CORP·NCES 181029001651
Darden Elementary School
18645 Janet St, South Bend, IN 46637 · (574) 243-7335 · St. Joseph County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL375 STUDENTS
D
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 6% of Indiana public elementary schools
- DTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- FBeats 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
Student : Teacher
12.3:1
30 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.8:1 · STATE 15.5:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
53%
200 students
DISTRICT 56% · STATE 50%
Community
1
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
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 16 | 4% |
| Kindergarten | 67 | 18% |
| Grade 1 | 71 | 19% |
| Grade 2 | 59 | 16% |
| Grade 3 | 66 | 18% |
| Grade 4 | 47 | 13% |
| Grade 5 | 49 | 13% |
This year's kindergarten class (67) is 37% larger than its 5th grade class (49).
Student demographics
72%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 72% · 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
21.7%
IN avg 39.2%
Math
18.9%
IN avg 41.1%
What this means: On the ILEARN, Indiana's statewide test, about 22 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 19 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
18.6%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
37.8%
based on IN schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-19.2pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 19% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 38% 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 Darden Elementary School
Darden Elementary School's state test result (18.6% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Darden Elementary School this school | 375 | 53.3% | 18.6% |
| Marquette Montessori Academy South Bend | 431 | 50.1% | 28.5% |
| Arlington Elementary School Fort Wayne | 418 | 55.0% | 36.1% |
| Sycamore Elementary School Avon | 512 | 55.7% | 65.2% |
| Pine Tree Elementary School Avon | 450 | 58.4% | 57.4% |
| Harper Elementary School Evansville | 344 | 57.6% | 38.5% |
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 Darden Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Indiana | In St. Joseph County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 18.6% | #858 of 983 | #27 of 40 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 18.9% | #881 of 986 | #28 of 40 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 21.7% | #815 of 986 | #27 of 40 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 375 | #671 of 1,079 | #30 of 42 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 12.3:1 | #105 of 991 | #7 of 39 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 71.8% | #46 of 996 | #6 of 39 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 53.3% | #515 of 1,058 | #18 of 41 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -16.9% | #218 of 597 | #8 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 2024-25Enrollment
375
-36 (-9%) vs 2020
-45% since 1990-91, when it was 686
Student : Teacher
12.3:1
was 15.2:1
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 | 375 | 30.4 | 12.3:1 | 53% (200) |
| 2023-24 | 465 | 39.3 | 11.8:1 | 67% (312) |
| 2022-23 | 522 | 38.6 | 13.5:1 | 79% (410) |
| 2020-21 | 411 | 27 | 15.2:1 | 77% (317) |
| 2017-18 | 451 | 28 | 16.1:1 | 77% (346) |
| 2015-16 | 553 | 25 | 22.1:1 | 75% (412) |
| 2010-11 | 583 | 39 | 14.9:1 | 64% (376) |
| 2000-01 | 715 | 41 | 17.4:1 | 43% (307) |
| 1990-91 | 686 | 37 | 18.5:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Darden Elementary School.
About Darden Elementary School
Darden Elementary School is a public elementary school in South Bend, Indiana. It reported 375 students in pre-K through 5 in 2024-25.
South Bend Community School Corp has 29 schools; together they serve 13,585 students.
The student body at Darden Elementary School has no majority group. White students lead at 38%. The next largest groups are 32% Black, 15% multiracial, 11% Hispanic, and 3% Asian. The school's White share is 33 points below the 71% share among St. Joseph County residents. Its diversity index, the chance that two randomly chosen students belong to different racial or ethnic groups, is 72%.
The school lists 30.4 full-time-equivalent teachers and a student-to-teacher ratio of 12.3:1. The average for elementary schools in Indiana is 15.5:1, so this school has fewer students per teacher. A total of 200 students, or 53%, are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.
Darden Elementary School earns a D on the allk12 Grade, which blends test scores, results against poverty-based expectations, and the three-year trend. It scored higher than 6% of Indiana public elementary schools.
Darden Elementary School is in the bottom 10% of Indiana schools on the allk12 BeatsExpectations measure. Based on its free or reduced-price lunch share, the model predicts an average proficiency rate across its state test results of 37.8%. The school's actual rate is 18.6%, 19.2 points lower.
The county, St. Joseph County, is where the school is located. The median household earns about $66,868 a year, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 34%, and about 9% of people live in poverty. Counting Darden Elementary School, St. Joseph County has 73 public schools.
Clay International Academy sits about 0.9 miles from Darden Elementary School. Darden Elementary School has at least 8 other public schools within five miles. The school's 18.6% average proficiency ranks 4th among 7 nearby schools.
Federal records code the school's setting as Suburb: Large.
Enrollment fell by 9% across 4 years, from 411 in 2020-21 to 375 in 2024-25. The student-to-teacher ratio dropped from 15.2:1 in 2020-21 to 12.3:1 in 2024-25.
People who know Darden Elementary School can post here about homework, tutoring, and testing dates. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to post.
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 Community School Corp
- Adams High SchoolHigh · 1,966 students
- Riley High SchoolHigh · 1,238 students
- Washington High SchoolHigh · 795 students
- Jefferson Traditional SchoolMiddle · 591 students
- Harrison Elementary SchoolElementary · 555 students
- Edison Middle SchoolElementary · 551 students
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
- Clay International Academy0.9 mi · 496
- Swanson Traditional School0.9 mi · 399
- Paramount School of Excellence South Bend2.4 mi · 476
- Edison Middle School2.9 mi · 551
- Rise Up Academy at Eggleston3.0 mi · 149
- South Bend Virtual School3.0 mi · 291
Frequently asked questions
About Darden Elementary SchoolHow large is Darden Elementary School?
Darden Elementary School enrolls approximately 375 students in grades PK-05.
What age range does Darden Elementary School serve?
Darden Elementary School serves students from grade PK through grade 05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Darden Elementary School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Darden Elementary School is approximately 12.3:1 (30 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Darden Elementary School?
At Darden Elementary School, the student body is approximately 38% White, 11% Hispanic, 32% Black, 3% Asian, 15% Two or more.
Who oversees Darden Elementary School?
Darden Elementary School is overseen by South Bend Community School Corp in St. Joseph County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.