Rhoades Elementary School

As a mid-sized elementary-level community in Indianapolis, Indiana, Rhoades Elementary School works with 617 students from grades pre-K through 6, run under MSD Wayne Township. That puts it 42% above the typical public school in Indiana, which averages around 436 students.

Rhoades Elementary School is one of 17 schools operated by MSD Wayne Township, a district that works with 16,094 students overall.

On the student-mix side, Rhoades Elementary School logs that 39% of students identify as Hispanic, with the remaining enrollment distributed across several groups. Other groups include 34% Black, 20% White, 6% multiracial. By comparison, Marion County as a whole is about 14% Hispanic, so the school skews meaningfully more Hispanic than its surroundings.

On the resource side, Rhoades Elementary School shows 43 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 14.5:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 15.5:1, putting Rhoades Elementary School tighter than the state norm the norm. Roughly 74% of students at Rhoades Elementary School qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. Set against Marion County (around 60%), the school's rate is noticeably above typical.

On a demographically-adjusted basis, Rhoades Elementary School sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 23.1%; this one delivers 18.1%.

Across the wider county, ACS estimates for Marion County put the typical household earns roughly $66,346 per year, 35% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and roughly 12% of residents live below the federal poverty line. In all, Marion County runs 274 public schools (combined enrollment of about 161,456 students), of which Rhoades Elementary School is one.

Nearest neighbor: Garden City Elementary School, around 0.3 miles off. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. Among the 4 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Rhoades Elementary School ranks 1st on composite proficiency, ahead of the local average of 13.8%.

The school occupies a city-core site.

Five-year trend. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Rhoades Elementary School has ticked down 22%, going from 796 students in 2018 to 617 in 2025. Over the same period, the White share decreased from 30% to 20%. The student-to-teacher ratio narrowed from 17.3:1 in 2018 to 14.5:1 today.

In the discussion threads here, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.