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Parents: what's one thing you'd want the Pierce Middle School administration to hear?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
878
Middle
DISTRICT 833 · STATE 594
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·MERRILLVILLE COMMUNITY SCHOOL CORP·NCES 180969001588
Pierce Middle School
199 E 70th Pl, Merrillville, IN 46410 · (219) 650-5308 · Lake County
GRADES 07–08MIDDLE21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL878 STUDENTS
D
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 9% of Indiana public middle schools
- C-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- DBeats 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 middle schools
Student : Teacher
12.8:1
69 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 12.9:1 · STATE 15.6:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
53%
467 students
DISTRICT 54% · STATE 50%
Community
5
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other middle schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 7 | 421 | 48% |
| Grade 8 | 457 | 52% |
Student demographics
51%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 52% · 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
Pierce Middle School→Merrillville High School
Feeds from
Based on grade levels within Merrillville Community School Corp. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
ILEARN 2024-25 . % At or Above ProficiencyEnglish Language Arts
24.9%
IN avg 39.2%
Math
16.1%
IN avg 41.1%
What this means: On the ILEARN, Indiana's statewide test, about 25 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 16 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
20.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
37.9%
based on IN schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-17.4pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 20% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 38% 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 Pierce Middle School
Pierce Middle School's state test result (20.5% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pierce Middle School this school | 878 | 53.2% | 20.5% |
| Merrillville Intermediate School Merrillville | 788 | 54.4% | 29.7% |
| New Augusta Public Academy - North Indianapolis | 751 | 50.5% | 28.0% |
| Lincoln Middle School Indianapolis | 736 | 55.8% | 11.4% |
| Guion Creek Middle School Indianapolis | 833 | 55.3% | 15.7% |
| Creston Intermediate & Middle Schl Indianapolis | 1,106 | 63.7% | 15.2% |
Matched among Indiana middle 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 Pierce Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Indiana | In Lake County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 20.5% | #272 of 324 | #13 of 20 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 16.1% | #275 of 325 | #13 of 20 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 24.9% | #266 of 325 | #13 of 20 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 878 | #60 of 334 | #7 of 21 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 12.8:1 | #65 of 314 | #3 of 21 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 51.1% | #126 of 315 | #12 of 21 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 53.2% | #134 of 330 | #10 of 21 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -14.3% | #72 of 187 | #6 of 14 |
Ranked against other public middle 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
878
-104 (-11%) vs 2020
+64% since 1990-91, when it was 534
Student : Teacher
12.8:1
was 17.9:1
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 | 878 | 68.5 | 12.8:1 | 53% (467) |
| 2023-24 | 899 | 62 | 14.5:1 | 65% (583) |
| 2022-23 | 919 | 63 | 14.6:1 | 70% (644) |
| 2020-21 | 982 | 55 | 17.9:1 | 62% (611) |
| 2017-18 | 1,024 | 60.1 | 17.0:1 | 68% (697) |
| 2015-16 | 1,059 | 57 | 18.6:1 | 64% (675) |
| 2010-11 | 1,128 | 57 | 19.8:1 | 56% (631) |
| 2000-01 | 746 | 39 | 19.1:1 | 18% (135) |
| 1990-91 | 534 | 30 | 17.8:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Pierce Middle School.
About Pierce Middle School
Federal records list Pierce Middle School as a middle school in Merrillville, Indiana. The school enrolls 878 students, from grades 7 through 8. An average school in this group (middle schools in Indiana) has about 594 students.
Merrillville Community School Corp is made up of 8 schools with 5,904 students in all.
By race and ethnicity, Pierce Middle School is 66% Black. After that, the student body is 21% Hispanic, 7% White, and 6% multiracial. Census figures show Lake County is about 23% Black. The chance that two students picked at random at Pierce Middle School belong to different racial or ethnic groups, known as the diversity index, is 51%.
The count of teachers at Pierce Middle School is 68.5 full-time equivalents, for a ratio of 12.8:1. The average ratio among middle schools in Indiana is 15.6:1, higher than at this school. Around 53% of the school's students qualify for free or reduced-price meals.
The allk12 Grade for Pierce Middle School is D. Compared with Indiana public middle schools, the school scored higher than 9% on a mix of test scores, poverty-adjusted results, and recent trend.
Pierce Middle School falls short of its prediction by 17.4 points. The model expects 37.9% for a school with its free or reduced-price lunch share in Indiana; the school's rate is 20.5%.
Across Lake County, median household income is about $71,493, about 26% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and the poverty rate is about 11%. Pierce Middle School is among the 121 public schools in Lake County.
The closest public school, Merrillville High School, is about 0.4 miles from Pierce Middle School. Around the school, at least 8 other public schools are within five miles. Pierce Middle School places 6th of 8 on proficiency among the closest schools that report scores.
Locale: Suburb: Large. In NCES terms, the school is in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
The 2024-25 enrollment of 878 was 11% lower than in 2020-21, when it was 982. In 2020-21, the student-to-teacher ratio was 17.9:1; by 2024-25 it was 12.8:1.
Community posts for Pierce Middle School can cover science fairs, picture day, and bus routes. Alumni can share how the school prepared them.
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 Merrillville Community School Corp
- Merrillville High SchoolHigh · 2,115 students
- Merrillville Intermediate SchoolMiddle · 788 students
- Jonas E Salk Elementary SchoolElementary · 565 students
- Homer Iddings Elementary SchoolElementary · 535 students
- Henry P Fieler Elementary SchoolElementary · 466 students
- Edgar L Miller Elementary SchoolElementary · 330 students
Other schools in Merrillville
- Merrillville High SchoolHigh · 2,115 students
- Merrillville Intermediate SchoolMiddle · 788 students
- Jonas E Salk Elementary SchoolElementary · 565 students
- Homer Iddings Elementary SchoolElementary · 535 students
- Henry P Fieler Elementary SchoolElementary · 466 students
- Edgar L Miller Elementary SchoolElementary · 330 students
Other Pierce Middle schools
3 other US public schools in 3 states are named Pierce Middle. Pierce Middle School is the largest of the 4.
- PIERCE MIDDLE SCHOOLTAMPA, FL · 858 students
- Pierce Middle SchoolWATERFORD, MI · 733 students
- Pierce Middle SchoolGROSSE POINTE PARK, MI · 570 students
Nearby schools
- Merrillville High School0.4 mi · 2,115
- Homer Iddings Elementary School0.7 mi · 535
- Henry P Fieler Elementary School1.3 mi · 466
- Merrillville Intermediate School1.7 mi · 788
- Higher Institute of Arts & Tech1.7 mi · 259
- Jonas E Salk Elementary School2.2 mi · 565
Frequently asked questions
About Pierce Middle SchoolHow many students attend Pierce Middle School?
Pierce Middle School enrolls approximately 878 students in grades 07-08.
What grades does Pierce Middle School serve?
Pierce Middle School serves grades 07-08.
How many students per teacher at Pierce Middle School?
Approximately 12.8:1 students per teacher at Pierce Middle School.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Pierce Middle School?
At Pierce Middle School, the student body is approximately 7% White, 21% Hispanic, 66% Black, 1% Asian, 6% Two or more.
Is Pierce Middle School public or private?
Pierce Middle School is a public K-12 school, overseen by Merrillville Community School Corp.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.