Paul Harding Jr High School

Paul Harding Jr High School, an intimate middle school in Ft Wayne, Indiana, overseen by East Allen County Schools, instructs 422 students, covering grades 7 through 8. Enrollment runs roughly 29% below the state mean of about 594.

Within East Allen County Schools, which oversees 15 schools and 10,136 students, Paul Harding Jr High School is one campus in the system.

In terms of who attends, Paul Harding Jr High School lists that the largest single group is Asian at 50%, but no single group is in the majority. Beyond that, the school reports 23% Black, 18% Hispanic, 6% White, 3% multiracial. The wider county runs roughly 5% Asian, putting the school's mix meaningfully more Asian than the area baseline.

On the resource side, On paper, Paul Harding Jr High School has 34 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 12.5:1. The state averages around 15.6:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. Around 82% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. Set against Allen County (around 50%), the school's rate is north of typical.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Paul Harding Jr High School performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 17.4%, the actual is 15.4%, a residual of -1.9 points.

In the area at large, the surrounding county (Allen County) logs that median household income runs about $70,737, 32% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 10%. Paul Harding Jr High School is one of 92 public schools in Allen County (combined enrollment of about 55,262 students).

Nearest neighbor: East Allen University, around 0.0 miles off. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Paul Harding Jr High School. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Paul Harding Jr High School at 3rd of 7; the average score across the group is 17.6%.

The campus sits in a suburban setting.

Trend over the last 7 years. Paul Harding Jr High School's enrollment has expanded 17% since 2018, when it stood at 360 (now 422). Black enrollment moved from 36% to 23% across the same window. The student-to-teacher ratio tightened from 13.8:1 in 2018 to 12.5:1 today.

In the discussion threads here, recent activity here tends to focus on sports schedules, lunch menu changes, and school spirit week. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.