Meridian Street Elementary School

Meridian Street Elementary School is an intimate elementary school in Brazil, Indiana, operated by Clay Community Schools. The school instructs 321 students in grades pre-K through 5. Compared to the state average of about 436 students per school, that is 26% smaller than typical.

Clay Community Schools comprises 10 schools with combined enrollment of 3,995 students; Meridian Street Elementary School is among them.

Looking at the student body, Meridian Street Elementary School records that 96% of students identify as White, making the school strongly White-majority; the rest looks like 2% multiracial. That mix tracks the wider county fairly closely.

On the income-and-resources front, On paper, Meridian Street Elementary School has 17 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 18.9:1. That figure is higher than the state norm's 15.5:1 average. An estimated 56% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. That share is higher than Clay County's rate of about 44%.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Meridian Street Elementary School ranks in the top 10% of Indiana public schools. The BeatsExpectations model, a per-state regression of composite proficiency on FRL share, predicts schools with this student profile to land around 35.9%; Meridian Street Elementary School posts 54.2%, +18.3 points above that line.

Around the school, the surrounding county (Clay County) reports that the typical household earns roughly $70,010 per year, about 20% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and the poverty rate sits near 7%. Across Clay County's 10 public schools (combined enrollment of about 3,995 students), Meridian Street Elementary School is one campus in the mix.

Nearest neighbor: East Side Elementary School, around 0.9 miles off. Counting just inside five miles, 7 other public schools cluster around Meridian Street Elementary School. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Meridian Street Elementary School at 5th of 8; the average score across the group is 49.3%.

Geographically, the school is in a small-town area.

Looking at the recent track record. Meridian Street Elementary School's enrollment has grew 18% since 2018, when it stood at 272 (now 321). Over the same period, the White share ticked up from 92% to 96%. The student-to-teacher ratio widened from 16.3:1 in 2018 to 18.9:1 today.

Inside the community feed, posts here usually surface around science fair prep, picture-day reminders, and bus-route questions. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.