Enrollment
228
Elementary
DISTRICT 338 · STATE 436
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·INDIANAPOLIS PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 180477002439
Merle Sidener Academy 59 - a High Ability School
2424 Kessler Blvd E Dr, Indianapolis, IN 46220 · (317) 226-4259 · Marion County
GRADES 01–05ELEMENTARY11-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL228 STUDENTS
A+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 97% of Indiana public elementary schools
- ATest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- A+Beats 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
10.9:1
21 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 12.4:1 · STATE 15.5:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
48%
109 students
DISTRICT 58% · STATE 50%
Community
0
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 1 | 38 | 17% |
| Grade 2 | 36 | 16% |
| Grade 3 | 51 | 22% |
| Grade 4 | 60 | 26% |
| Grade 5 | 43 | 19% |
This year's 1st grade class (38) is 12% smaller than its 5th grade class (43).
Student demographics
71%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 68% · 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
QUIET COMMUNITY
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START A DISCUSSIONTest scores
ILEARN 2024-25 . % At or Above ProficiencyEnglish Language Arts
64.6%
IN avg 39.2%
Math
69.4%
IN avg 41.1%
What this means: On the ILEARN, Indiana's statewide test, about 65 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 69 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
OUTPERFORMING
Top 10% of IN schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
68.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
41.7%
based on IN schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+26.4pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 68% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 42% typical for Indiana schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations ranks schools against others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school can post high scores and still fall short of its prediction, or post lower scores and still beat it. This school clears its prediction by about 26 points, placing it in Indiana's top 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 Merle Sidener Academy 59 - a High Ability School
Merle Sidener Academy 59 - a High Ability School's state test result (68.1% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 3 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Merle Sidener Academy 59 - a High Ability School this school | 228 | 47.8% | 68.1% |
| Whitney M Young Early Childhood Fort Wayne | 218 | 45.9% | N/A |
| Bunche Elementary School Fort Wayne | 234 | 44.0% | N/A |
| Paul Saylor Elementary School Valparaiso | 274 | 49.6% | 25.6% |
| Charity Dye School 27 Center for Inquiry Indianapolis | 348 | 44.3% | 26.9% |
| Cold Spring School Indianapolis | 359 | 51.0% | 33.4% |
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 Merle Sidener Academy 59 - a High Ability School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Indiana | In Marion County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 68.1% | #65 of 983 | #2 of 140 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 69.4% | #125 of 986 | #8 of 142 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 64.6% | #63 of 986 | #3 of 142 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 228 | #964 of 1,079 | #140 of 157 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 10.9:1 | #35 of 991 | #11 of 142 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 70.7% | #63 of 996 | #21 of 145 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 47.8% | #652 of 1,058 | #131 of 152 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -36.1% | #33 of 597 | #11 of 86 |
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
228
-124 (-35%) vs 2020
-14% since 2010-11, when it was 266
Student : Teacher
10.9:1
was 19.6:1
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 | 228 | 21 | 10.9:1 | 48% (109) |
| 2023-24 | 304 | 19.5 | 15.6:1 | 45% (138) |
| 2022-23 | 300 | 19 | 15.8:1 | 44% (132) |
| 2020-21 | 352 | 18 | 19.6:1 | 36% (128) |
| 2017-18 | 357 | 19.3 | 18.5:1 | 44% (156) |
| 2015-16 | 381 | N/A | N/A | 35% (133) |
| 2010-11 | 266 | 15 | 17.7:1 | 65% (173) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Merle Sidener Academy 59 - a High Ability School.
About Merle Sidener Academy 59 - a High Ability School
Merle Sidener Academy 59 - a High Ability School is a small elementary school in Indiana, with an address in Indianapolis. The school reports 228 students in grades 1 through 5. The school's enrollment is 48% smaller than the 436 average for elementary schools in Indiana.
In Indianapolis Public Schools, 49 schools enroll a combined 21,055 students.
Black students are the largest group at Merle Sidener Academy 59 - a High Ability School, with 39% of enrollment. The remaining shares are 31% White, 19% Hispanic, 8% multiracial, and 3% Asian. Marion County as a whole is about 27% Black, so the school's share is higher. The chance that two students picked at random at Merle Sidener Academy 59 - a High Ability School belong to different racial or ethnic groups, known as the diversity index, is 71%.
The count of teachers at Merle Sidener Academy 59 - a High Ability School is 21 full-time equivalents, for a ratio of 10.9:1. Among elementary schools in Indiana, the typical ratio is 15.5:1. The school counts 109 students as eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, or 48%. Public schools in Marion County average 60%.
allk12 grades Merle Sidener Academy 59 - a High Ability School an A+. The grade compares the school only with Indiana public elementary schools, because each state gives its own test.
The allk12 BeatsExpectations score for Merle Sidener Academy 59 - a High Ability School is +26.4 points, in the top 10% of Indiana. Its average proficiency rate on state tests is 68.1%, and the predicted rate is 41.7%.
Marion County has these Census figures: median household income is about $66,346, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 35% of adults, and the poverty rate is about 12%. The public schools of Marion County number 274 and enroll about 161,456.
Nearby, ACE Preparatory Academy is about 0.9 miles away. Other public schools within five miles number at least 8. Merle Sidener Academy 59 - a High Ability School is 1st of 7 nearby schools by average proficiency rate.
Merle Sidener Academy 59 - a High Ability School falls in the City: Large locale category, used for schools inside a principal city with a population of 250,000 or more.
The number of students declined from 352 to 228 over 4 years. From 2020-21 to 2024-25, the ratio fell from 19.6:1 to 10.9:1.
Conversations here can range across sports schedules, lunch menus, and spirit week. Reviews and ratings from people who know the school are welcome.
Marion County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
975,809
Census ACS
Median income
$66,346
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
35%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
12%
Below federal line
Schools in county
274
161,456 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Indianapolis Public Schools
- Arsenal Technical High SchoolHigh · 2,360 students
- Crispus Attucks High SchoolHigh · 1,269 students
- Shortridge High SchoolHigh · 1,206 students
- George Washington High SchoolHigh · 729 students
- Broad Ripple Middle School - an IB World SchoolMiddle · 623 students
- Northwest Middle School - an IB World SchoolMiddle · 623 students
Other schools in Indianapolis
- Indiana Connections AcademyCombined · 5,376 students
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- Franklin Central High SchoolHigh · 3,438 students
- Warren Central High SchoolHigh · 3,391 students
- Ben Davis High SchoolHigh · 3,315 students
- Pike High SchoolHigh · 3,188 students
Nearby schools
- ACE Preparatory Academy0.9 mi · 131
- Purdue Polytechnic High Sch North0.9 mi · 229
- Broad Ripple Middle School - an IB World School0.9 mi · 623
- Eliza Baker School 55 - a Butler Lab Reggio Emilia School1.1 mi · 301
- Rousseau McClellan School 91 - a Montessori School1.2 mi · 506
- Eastwood Middle School1.6 mi · 845
Frequently asked questions
About Merle Sidener Academy 59 - a High Ability SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Merle Sidener Academy 59 - a High Ability School?
Merle Sidener Academy 59 - a High Ability School enrolls approximately 228 students in grades 01-05.
What age range does Merle Sidener Academy 59 - a High Ability School serve?
Merle Sidener Academy 59 - a High Ability School serves students from grade 01 through grade 05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Merle Sidener Academy 59 - a High Ability School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Merle Sidener Academy 59 - a High Ability School is approximately 10.9:1 (21 FTE teachers).
How diverse is Merle Sidener Academy 59 - a High Ability School?
Merle Sidener Academy 59 - a High Ability School reports a student body of 31% White, 19% Hispanic, 39% Black, 3% Asian, 8% Two or more.
Who oversees Merle Sidener Academy 59 - a High Ability School?
Merle Sidener Academy 59 - a High Ability School is overseen by Indianapolis Public Schools in Marion County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.