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What's the best and worst thing about the food at Joseph Block Middle School?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
436
Middle
DISTRICT 461 · STATE 594
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·SCHOOL CITY OF EAST CHICAGO·NCES 180288000370
Joseph Block Middle School
2700 Cardinal Dr, East Chicago, IN 46312 · (219) 391-4084 · Lake County
GRADES 07–08MIDDLE21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL436 STUDENTS
F
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 4% of Indiana public middle schools
- FTest 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
10.7:1
41 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.3:1 · STATE 15.6:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
71%
308 students
DISTRICT 71% · STATE 50%
Community
5
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 7 | 207 | 47% |
| Grade 8 | 229 | 53% |
Student demographics
53%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 53% · 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
School pathway
Students here typically continue to
Joseph Block Middle School→East Chicago Central High School
Feeds from
Based on grade levels within School City of East Chicago. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
ILEARN 2024-25 . % At or Above ProficiencyEnglish Language Arts
16.2%
IN avg 39.2%
Math
6.0%
IN avg 41.1%
What this means: On the ILEARN, Indiana's statewide test, about 16 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 6 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
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
11.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
25.6%
based on IN schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-14.5pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 11% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 26% typical for Indiana schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Indiana's top nor bottom 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 Joseph Block Middle School
Joseph Block Middle School's state test result (11.1% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joseph Block Middle School this school | 436 | 70.6% | 11.1% |
| Navarre Middle School South Bend | 378 | 79.4% | 3.7% |
| Northwest Middle School - an IB World School Indianapolis | 623 | 63.7% | 5.7% |
| Henry W Eggers Middle School Hammond | 693 | 58.4% | 9.8% |
| William Penn Middle School - a STEM School Indianapolis | 367 | 65.4% | 9.1% |
| Kekionga Middle School Fort Wayne | 527 | 75.3% | 11.8% |
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 Joseph Block Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Indiana | In Lake County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 11.1% | #310 of 324 | #16 of 20 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 6.0% | #314 of 325 | #16 of 20 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 16.2% | #305 of 325 | #16 of 20 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 436 | #209 of 334 | #17 of 21 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 10.7:1 | #12 of 314 | #1 of 21 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 52.9% | #111 of 315 | #11 of 21 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 70.6% | #31 of 330 | #3 of 21 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -15.2% | #62 of 187 | #5 of 14 |
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
436
-125 (-22%) vs 2020
-23% since 1990-91, when it was 567
Student : Teacher
10.7:1
was 14.4:1
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 | 436 | 40.7 | 10.7:1 | 71% (308) |
| 2023-24 | 440 | 40.5 | 10.9:1 | 80% (354) |
| 2022-23 | 487 | 39.3 | 12.4:1 | 82% (399) |
| 2020-21 | 561 | 39 | 14.4:1 | 84% (470) |
| 2017-18 | 514 | 39 | 13.2:1 | 88% (453) |
| 2015-16 | 301 | 19 | 15.8:1 | 89% (269) |
| 2010-11 | 644 | 38 | 16.9:1 | 94% (606) |
| 2000-01 | 421 | 40 | 10.5:1 | 86% (363) |
| 1990-91 | 567 | 41 | 13.8:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Joseph Block Middle School.
About Joseph Block Middle School
Joseph Block Middle School is a small middle school serving families in East Chicago, Indiana. Enrollment totals 436 students across grades 7 through 8. The school is 27% below the average for middle schools in Indiana.
Joseph Block Middle School is run by School City of East Chicago, whose 7 schools enroll 3,225 students.
Of every 100 students at Joseph Block Middle School, about 55 are Hispanic. Other reported shares: 42% Black and 3% multiracial. Lake County's residents are about 21% Hispanic, 34 points below the school's share. Measured by the diversity index, the student body scores 53%.
Joseph Block Middle School reported 40.7 full-time-equivalent teachers in 2024-25, a ratio of 10.7:1. Middle schools in Indiana average 15.6:1, 4.9 more students per teacher than here. There are 308 students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, 71% of enrollment. The rate at public schools in Lake County averages 47%, lower than here.
On the allk12 Grade, Joseph Block Middle School lands at F, ahead of 4% of Indiana public middle schools.
The model predicts 25.6% for a school in Indiana with Joseph Block Middle School's free or reduced-price lunch share. Joseph Block Middle School posts 11.1%.
In Lake County, where the school is located, median household income comes to about $71,493, about 26% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and the poverty rate is about 11%. The county has 121 public schools and about 74,661 students.
A public school about 0.2 miles away, George Washington Elementary Sch, is the closest to Joseph Block Middle School. The count of other public schools within five miles is at least 8. Of 7 schools in the immediate area with test results, Joseph Block Middle School ranks 6th on average proficiency.
NCES assigns Joseph Block Middle School the locale Suburb: Large, meaning in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
From 561 students in 2020-21, enrollment fell to 436 by 2024-25. Students per teacher dropped from 14.4 in 2020-21 to 10.7 in 2024-25.
This page collects posts and questions about Joseph Block Middle School, such as fundraisers, report cards, and school supplies. Current and former families are welcome to add their experience.
Lake County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
500,379
Census ACS
Median income
$71,493
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
26%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
11%
Below federal line
Schools in county
121
74,661 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in School City of East Chicago
- East Chicago Central High SchoolHigh · 1,052 students
- William McKinley Elementary SchoolElementary · 509 students
- George Washington Elementary SchElementary · 433 students
- Benjamin Harrison Elementary SchElementary · 400 students
- Abraham Lincoln Elementary SchoolElementary · 282 students
- Carrie Gosch PK CenterElementary · 113 students
Other schools in East Chicago
- East Chicago Central High SchoolHigh · 1,052 students
- William McKinley Elementary SchoolElementary · 509 students
- East Chicago LighthouseElementary · 495 students
- George Washington Elementary SchElementary · 433 students
- East Chicago Urban Enterprise AcademyElementary · 424 students
- Benjamin Harrison Elementary SchElementary · 400 students
Nearby schools
- George Washington Elementary Sch0.2 mi · 433
- East Chicago Lighthouse0.6 mi · 495
- East Chicago Urban Enterprise Academy0.8 mi · 424
- Abraham Lincoln Elementary School1.1 mi · 282
- Carrie Gosch PK Center2.1 mi · 113
- Benjamin Harrison Elementary Sch2.2 mi · 400
Frequently asked questions
About Joseph Block Middle SchoolHow many students attend Joseph Block Middle School?
Joseph Block Middle School enrolls approximately 436 students in grades 07-08.
What grades does Joseph Block Middle School serve?
Joseph Block Middle School serves grades 07-08.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Joseph Block Middle School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Joseph Block Middle School is approximately 10.7:1 (41 FTE teachers).
What is the student diversity at Joseph Block Middle School?
Student demographics at Joseph Block Middle School are roughly 1% White, 55% Hispanic, 42% Black, 3% Two or more.
What district is Joseph Block Middle School in?
Joseph Block Middle School is part of School City of East Chicago.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.