Early Learning Center

Early Learning Center is an elementary-level community of expansive scale in Indianapolis, Indiana, overseen by MSD Lawrence Township, caters to 1,313 students in grades pre-K through K. That puts it 201% larger than the typical public school in Indiana, which averages around 436 students.

Within MSD Lawrence Township, which oversees 16 schools and 16,747 students, Early Learning Center is one campus in the system.

For racial and ethnic makeup, Early Learning Center records that the most-represented group is Black (51%), with the rest of the student body spread across multiple groups. Beyond that, the school logs 21% Hispanic, 18% White, 9% multiracial. By comparison, Marion County as a whole is about 27% Black, so the school skews noticeably more Black than its surroundings.

On the resource side, Staff filings list 59 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 22.1:1 students per teacher. The state averages around 15.5:1, so this campus is higher than the state norm typical. Around 38% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, often used as a Title I proxy. That share is south of Marion County's rate of about 60%.

In the surrounding community, census data for Marion County shows median household income runs about $66,346, roughly 35% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 12% of residents live below the federal poverty line. In all, Marion County runs 274 public schools (combined enrollment of about 161,456 students), of which Early Learning Center is one.

Nearest neighbor: Sunnyside Elementary School, around 0.2 miles off. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Early Learning Center.

The campus sits in a residential setting.

Five-year trend. Over the past 7-year window, the student count ticked down 5%: 1,387 students in 2018 compared to 1,313 in 2025. Over the same period, the White share fell from 26% to 18%. The student-to-teacher ratio pulled in from 30.1:1 in 2018 to 22.1:1 today.

On this page, members of the Early Learning Center community share and discuss open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.