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What tradition at Joseph Hess Elementary School should never be changed?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
611
Elementary
DISTRICT 580 · STATE 436
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·SCHOOL CITY OF HAMMOND·NCES 180432002413
Joseph Hess Elementary School
3640 Orchard Dr, Hammond, IN 46323 · (219) 989-7355 · Lake County
GRADES PK–06ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL611 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
16.8:1
36 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 16.9:1 · STATE 15.5:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
50%
307 students
DISTRICT 55% · STATE 50%
Community
5
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten | 69 | 11% |
| Grade 1 | 89 | 15% |
| Grade 2 | 92 | 15% |
| Grade 3 | 99 | 16% |
| Grade 4 | 92 | 15% |
| Grade 5 | 92 | 15% |
| Grade 6 | 78 | 13% |
This year's kindergarten class (69) is 12% smaller than its 6th grade class (78).
Student demographics
63%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 61% · 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
11.7%
IN avg 39.2%
Math
15.0%
IN avg 41.1%
What this means: On the ILEARN, Indiana's statewide test, about 12 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 15 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
14.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
40.0%
based on IN schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-25.5pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 14% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 40% 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 Joseph Hess Elementary School
Joseph Hess Elementary School's state test result (14.5% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joseph Hess Elementary School this school | 611 | 50.2% | 14.5% |
| Thomas Jefferson Elementary School Hammond | 570 | 49.5% | 17.8% |
| Thomas A Edison Elementary School Hammond | 705 | 54.0% | 17.5% |
| Warren G Harding Elementary School Hammond | 755 | 54.4% | 23.0% |
| Willow Lake Elementary School Indianapolis | 739 | 53.0% | 24.6% |
| Nora Elementary School Indianapolis | 544 | 53.1% | 31.9% |
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 Joseph Hess Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Indiana | In Lake County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 14.5% | #905 of 983 | #45 of 61 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 15.0% | #913 of 986 | #45 of 61 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 11.7% | #947 of 986 | #57 of 61 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 611 | #171 of 1,079 | #14 of 70 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 16.8:1 | #761 of 991 | #38 of 69 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 63.3% | #216 of 996 | #15 of 69 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 50.2% | #593 of 1,058 | #39 of 70 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -5.6% | #454 of 597 | #29 of 39 |
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
611
+26 (+4%) vs 2020
-7% since 2010-11, when it was 659
Student : Teacher
16.8:1
was 18.9:1
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 | 611 | 36.3 | 16.8:1 | 50% (307) |
| 2023-24 | 686 | 36.4 | 18.8:1 | 59% (407) |
| 2022-23 | 688 | 37.1 | 18.6:1 | 76% (520) |
| 2020-21 | 585 | 31 | 18.9:1 | 81% (471) |
| 2017-18 | 647 | 32 | 20.2:1 | 73% (475) |
| 2015-16 | 626 | 29 | 21.6:1 | 75% (469) |
| 2010-11 | 659 | 28 | 23.5:1 | 63% (415) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Joseph Hess Elementary School.
About Joseph Hess Elementary School
Joseph Hess Elementary School is a mid-sized elementary school for students in Hammond, Indiana. Total enrollment is 611 students, and the grades served are pre-K through 6. It has 40% more students than the average for elementary schools in Indiana (about 436).
School City of Hammond includes 15 schools. Together they enroll 10,997 students.
The student body at Joseph Hess Elementary School has no majority group. Hispanic students lead at 43%. Next come 41% Black, 11% White, and 5% multiracial. The county population is about 21% Hispanic. Its diversity index, the chance that two randomly chosen students belong to different racial or ethnic groups, is 63%.
There are 36.3 full-time-equivalent teachers at the school, a ratio of 16.8:1. The gap from the 15.5:1 average for elementary schools in Indiana is 1.3 students per teacher. On the income side, 50% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The average for public schools in Lake County is similar, at 47%.
When test results are adjusted for free or reduced-price lunch eligibility, Joseph Hess Elementary School ranks in the bottom 10% of Indiana schools. It scores 14.5%; the prediction is 40.0%.
Lake County is the school's county. There, median household income comes to about $71,493, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 26%, and roughly 11% of residents are in poverty. There are 121 public schools in the county, enrolling about 74,661, Joseph Hess Elementary School among them.
Charles N Scott Middle School is about 0.5 miles away, making it the nearest public school. Joseph Hess Elementary School is one of several public schools in the area, with at least 8 others within five miles. Ranking the closest schools with test data puts Joseph Hess Elementary School at 4th of 5.
Joseph Hess Elementary School falls in the Suburb: Large locale category, used for schools in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
From 2020-21 to 2024-25, enrollment rose from 585 to 611, a 4% increase. The student-to-teacher ratio went down from 18.9:1 to 16.8:1.
The allk12 page for Joseph Hess Elementary School lets the school community talk about pickup and drop-off, after-school programs, and teacher feedback. 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 Hammond
- Hammond Central High SchoolHigh · 1,814 students
- Morton Senior High SchoolHigh · 1,446 students
- Warren G Harding Elementary SchoolElementary · 755 students
- Washington Irving Elementary SchElementary · 754 students
- Thomas A Edison Elementary SchoolElementary · 705 students
- Henry W Eggers Middle SchoolMiddle · 693 students
Other schools in Hammond
- Hammond Central High SchoolHigh · 1,814 students
- Morton Senior High SchoolHigh · 1,446 students
- Warren G Harding Elementary SchoolElementary · 755 students
- Washington Irving Elementary SchElementary · 754 students
- Thomas A Edison Elementary SchoolElementary · 705 students
- Henry W Eggers Middle SchoolMiddle · 693 students
Nearby schools
- Charles N Scott Middle School0.5 mi · 663
- Morton Senior High School0.8 mi · 1,446
- Excel Center - Hammond0.9 mi · 205
- Judith Morton Johnston Elementary1.1 mi · 383
- Morton Elementary School1.4 mi · 525
- Warren G Harding Elementary School1.6 mi · 755
Frequently asked questions
About Joseph Hess Elementary SchoolHow many students attend Joseph Hess Elementary School?
Joseph Hess Elementary School enrolls approximately 611 students in grades PK-06.
What grades does Joseph Hess Elementary School serve?
Joseph Hess Elementary School serves grades PK-06.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Joseph Hess Elementary School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Joseph Hess Elementary School is approximately 16.8:1 (36 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Joseph Hess Elementary School?
At Joseph Hess Elementary School, the student body is approximately 11% White, 43% Hispanic, 41% Black, 0% Asian, 5% Two or more.
Who oversees Joseph Hess Elementary School?
Joseph Hess Elementary School is overseen by School City of Hammond in Lake County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.