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What do students at Lancaster Central School actually talk about outside of class?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
533
Elementary
DISTRICT 550 · STATE 436
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·NORWELL COMMUNITY SCHOOLS·NCES 180822001409
Lancaster Central School
3240 E 300 N, Bluffton, IN 46714 · (260) 565-3135 · Wells County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY41-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL533 STUDENTS
B-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 47% of Indiana public elementary schools
- BTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- CBeats 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
14.7:1
36 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.8:1 · STATE 15.5:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
41%
217 students
DISTRICT 35% · 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 40 | 8% |
| Kindergarten | 75 | 14% |
| Grade 1 | 68 | 13% |
| Grade 2 | 82 | 15% |
| Grade 3 | 82 | 15% |
| Grade 4 | 100 | 19% |
| Grade 5 | 86 | 16% |
This year's kindergarten class (75) is 13% smaller than its 5th grade class (86).
Student demographics
25%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 20% · 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
Based on grade levels within Norwell Community Schools. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
ILEARN 2024-25 . % At or Above ProficiencyEnglish Language Arts
39.0%
IN avg 39.2%
Math
52.6%
IN avg 41.1%
What this means: On the ILEARN, Indiana's statewide test, about 39 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 53 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
45.3%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
46.7%
based on IN schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-1.4pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 45% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 47% 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 Lancaster Central School
Lancaster Central School's state test result (45.3% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 4 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lancaster Central School this school | 533 | 40.7% | 45.3% |
| Van Buren Elementary School Plainfield | 514 | 38.9% | 57.6% |
| Royerton Elementary School Muncie | 596 | 41.3% | 59.8% |
| James R Watson Elementary School Auburn | 590 | 40.2% | 46.5% |
| Heritage Intermediate School Middlebury | 574 | 40.2% | 50.6% |
| Westview Elementary School Jonesboro | 513 | 43.5% | N/A |
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 Lancaster Central School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Indiana |
|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 45.3% | #401 of 983 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 52.6% | #362 of 986 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 39.0% | #486 of 986 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 533 | #299 of 1,079 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.7:1 | #436 of 991 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 25.1% | #702 of 996 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 40.7% | #779 of 1,058 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +1.1% | #325 of 353 |
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
533
-3 (-1%) vs 2020
-17% since 1990-91, when it was 643
Student : Teacher
14.7:1
was 16.8:1
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 | 533 | 36.3 | 14.7:1 | 41% (217) |
| 2023-24 | 542 | 35 | 15.5:1 | 37% (200) |
| 2022-23 | 544 | 35.5 | 15.3:1 | 37% (202) |
| 2020-21 | 536 | 32 | 16.8:1 | 30% (163) |
| 2017-18 | 527 | 32 | 16.5:1 | 32% (170) |
| 2015-16 | 524 | 30 | 17.5:1 | 33% (175) |
| 2010-11 | 556 | 26 | 21.4:1 | 33% (183) |
| 2000-01 | 588 | 29 | 20.3:1 | 22% (130) |
| 1990-91 | 643 | 32 | 20.1:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Lancaster Central School.
About Lancaster Central School
Lancaster Central School is a medium-sized elementary school with its address in Bluffton, Indiana. It educates 533 students in pre-K through 5. The typical figure for elementary schools in Indiana is about 436 students.
Norwell Community Schools, which runs Lancaster Central School, has 4 schools and 2,413 students.
Most students at Lancaster Central School are White: 86% of enrollment. Other students are 8% Hispanic and 3% multiracial. By the diversity index, Lancaster Central School comes in at 25%.
Lancaster Central School operates with 36.3 full-time-equivalent teachers, a ratio of about 14.7:1. That ratio is under the 15.5:1 average for elementary schools in Indiana. Lancaster Central School reports 41% of students eligible for free or reduced-price meals. That is close to the 42% average for public schools in Wells County.
allk12 grades Lancaster Central School a B-. The grade compares the school only with Indiana public elementary schools, because each state gives its own test.
Based on its free or reduced-price lunch share, the BeatsExpectations model predicts an average proficiency rate on state tests of 46.7% for Lancaster Central School. The school posts 45.3%, 1.4 points below the prediction.
Lancaster Central School is located in Wells County, where median household income is about $71,957, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 20%, and about 5% of people live in poverty. Lancaster Central School is one of 9 public schools in Wells County, which together enroll about 5,106 students.
The school nearest to Lancaster Central School is Norwell Middle School, at a distance of about 3.6 miles. Counting only straight-line distance, 5 other public schools are within five miles. Among the 6 closest schools with test data, this one included, Lancaster Central School ranks 4th on average proficiency.
Lancaster Central School is coded as Rural: Fringe in federal locale data.
In 2020-21, Lancaster Central School enrolled 536; in 2024-25, 533. Over the same period, the student-to-teacher ratio fell to 14.7:1, from 16.8:1.
Topics for discussion here include school safety, transportation, and start times. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.
Wells County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
28,420
Census ACS
Median income
$71,957
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
20%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
5%
Below federal line
Schools in county
9
5,106 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Norwell Community Schools
- Norwell High SchoolHigh · 753 students
- Ossian ElementaryElementary · 566 students
- Norwell Middle SchoolMiddle · 561 students
Other schools in Bluffton
- Bluffton-Harrison Elementary SchElementary · 750 students
- Bluffton-Harrison Middle SchoolMiddle · 556 students
- Bluffton High SchoolHigh · 507 students
Nearby schools
- Norwell Middle School3.6 mi · 561
- Norwell High School3.6 mi · 753
- Bluffton-Harrison Elementary Sch4.2 mi · 750
- Bluffton High School4.4 mi · 507
- Bluffton-Harrison Middle School4.5 mi · 556
- Ossian Elementary6.2 mi · 566
Frequently asked questions
About Lancaster Central SchoolHow large is Lancaster Central School?
Lancaster Central School enrolls approximately 533 students in grades PK-05.
Is Lancaster Central School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Lancaster Central School is an elementary school covering grades PK-05.
How many students per teacher at Lancaster Central School?
Approximately 14.7:1 students per teacher at Lancaster Central School.
How diverse is Lancaster Central School?
Lancaster Central School reports a student body of 86% White, 8% Hispanic, 1% Black, 1% Asian, 3% Two or more.
Who oversees Lancaster Central School?
Lancaster Central School is overseen by Norwell Community Schools in Wells County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.