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Which teacher or staff member at Virgil I Grissom Middle School deserves more recognition?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
662
Middle
DISTRICT 881 · STATE 594
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·PENN-HARRIS-MADISON SCHOOL CORP·NCES 180876001453
Virgil I Grissom Middle School
13881 Kern Rd, Mishawaka, IN 46544 · (574) 633-4061 · St. Joseph County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE41-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL662 STUDENTS
B+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 72% of Indiana public middle schools
- B+Test 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 middle schools
Student : Teacher
15.6:1
43 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 18.3:1 · STATE 15.6:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
51%
335 students
DISTRICT 36% · 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 6 | 212 | 32% |
| Grade 7 | 224 | 34% |
| Grade 8 | 226 | 34% |
Student demographics
51%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 50% · 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
Virgil I Grissom Middle School→Penn High School
Based on grade levels within Penn-Harris-Madison School Corp. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
ILEARN 2024-25 . % At or Above ProficiencyEnglish Language Arts
48.0%
IN avg 39.2%
Math
40.8%
IN avg 41.1%
What this means: On the ILEARN, Indiana's statewide test, about 48 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 41 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
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
43.8%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
39.7%
based on IN schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+4.0pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 44% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 40% typical for Indiana schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Indiana's top nor bottom 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 Virgil I Grissom Middle School
Virgil I Grissom Middle School's state test result (43.8% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virgil I Grissom Middle School this school | 662 | 50.6% | 43.8% |
| Lebanon Middle School Lebanon | 849 | 47.6% | 35.1% |
| Bluffton-Harrison Middle School Bluffton | 556 | 52.2% | 40.1% |
| Kesling Intermediate School LaPorte | 847 | 49.5% | 44.8% |
| Greenfield Central Junior High Sch Greenfield | 690 | 47.7% | 33.2% |
| Wawasee Middle School Syracuse | 608 | 49.2% | 29.8% |
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 Virgil I Grissom Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Indiana | In St. Joseph County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 43.8% | #114 of 324 | #5 of 10 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 40.8% | #125 of 325 | #5 of 10 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 48.0% | #85 of 325 | #4 of 10 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 662 | #115 of 334 | #4 of 10 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 15.6:1 | #186 of 314 | #7 of 10 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 50.6% | #128 of 315 | #8 of 10 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 50.6% | #157 of 330 | #5 of 10 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +1.8% | #95 of 110 | N/A |
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
662
-47 (-7%) vs 2020
-10% since 1990-91, when it was 735
Student : Teacher
15.6:1
was 20.3:1
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 | 662 | 42.5 | 15.6:1 | 51% (335) |
| 2023-24 | 648 | 41.3 | 15.7:1 | 46% (295) |
| 2022-23 | 678 | 43 | 15.8:1 | 46% (315) |
| 2020-21 | 709 | 35 | 20.3:1 | 35% (250) |
| 2017-18 | 650 | 36.5 | 17.8:1 | 40% (257) |
| 2015-16 | 583 | 34 | 17.1:1 | 45% (265) |
| 2010-11 | 639 | 29 | 22.0:1 | 36% (229) |
| 2000-01 | 628 | 34 | 18.5:1 | 18% (110) |
| 1990-91 | 735 | 41 | 17.9:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Virgil I Grissom Middle School.
About Virgil I Grissom Middle School
Virgil I Grissom Middle School is listed by the National Center for Education Statistics as a middle school in Mishawaka, Indiana. Federal data show 662 students enrolled in grades 6 through 8 in 2024-25.
In Penn-Harris-Madison School Corp, 15 schools enroll a combined 11,329 students.
More than half of enrollment at Virgil I Grissom Middle School is White: 68%. Enrollment also includes 12% Hispanic, 10% multiracial, and 9% Black. In St. Joseph County overall, the White share is about 71%. The diversity index for Virgil I Grissom Middle School is 51%. For US public schools as a whole it is 70%.
Classroom staffing at Virgil I Grissom Middle School totals 42.5 full-time-equivalent teachers, and the student-to-teacher ratio is 15.6:1. The 15.6:1 average for middle schools in Indiana is close to this figure. Federal data show 51% of students (335) are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.
On the allk12 Grade, Virgil I Grissom Middle School lands at B+, ahead of 72% of Indiana public middle schools.
A school with Virgil I Grissom Middle School's lunch-eligibility share in Indiana is predicted to score 39.7%. Virgil I Grissom Middle School scores 43.8%, 4.0 points above that line.
American Community Survey estimates for St. Joseph County show that median household income comes to about $66,868, roughly 34% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and about 9% of residents live below the federal poverty line. St. Joseph County counts 73 public schools with about 35,614 students.
The closest school to Virgil I Grissom Middle School is Elm Road Elementary School, located about 1.5 miles away. In all, at least 8 other public schools sit within five miles of Virgil I Grissom Middle School. On proficiency, Virgil I Grissom Middle School is ahead of the 40.7% nearby average, ranking 4th of 7.
Under the NCES locale system, Virgil I Grissom Middle School is Rural: Fringe.
Enrollment was 662 in 2024-25. In 2020-21, it was 709. The ratio of students to teachers went from 20.3:1 to 15.6:1 over the same years.
Virgil I Grissom Middle School has a community page on allk12 for topics such as pickup and drop-off, after-school programs, and teacher feedback. Teachers and staff are welcome to share updates too.
St. Joseph County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
273,040
Census ACS
Median income
$66,868
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
34%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
9%
Below federal line
Schools in county
73
35,614 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Penn-Harris-Madison School Corp
- Penn High SchoolHigh · 3,687 students
- Schmucker Middle SchoolMiddle · 1,041 students
- Discovery Middle SchoolMiddle · 941 students
- Horizon Elementary SchoolElementary · 679 students
- Northpoint Elementary SchoolElementary · 577 students
- Prairie Vista Elementary SchoolElementary · 513 students
Other schools in Mishawaka
- Penn High SchoolHigh · 3,687 students
- Mishawaka High SchoolHigh · 1,327 students
- Schmucker Middle SchoolMiddle · 1,041 students
- John J Young Middle SchoolMiddle · 709 students
- Lasalle Elementary SchoolElementary · 519 students
- Walt Disney Elementary SchoolElementary · 512 students
Other Virgil I Grissom Middle schools
One other US public school is named Virgil I Grissom Middle. Virgil I Grissom Middle School is the largest of the 2.
- Virgil I Grissom Middle SchoolTinley Park, IL · 627 students
Nearby schools
- Elm Road Elementary School1.5 mi · 503
- Meadow's Edge Elementary School2.5 mi · 382
- Fred J Hums Elementary School3.0 mi · 327
- Cavemen Academy of Virtual Excellence3.5 mi · 162
- Emmons Elementary School3.6 mi · 422
- Beiger Elementary School3.7 mi · 504
Frequently asked questions
About Virgil I Grissom Middle SchoolHow large is Virgil I Grissom Middle School?
Virgil I Grissom Middle School enrolls approximately 662 students in grades 06-08.
Is Virgil I Grissom Middle School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Virgil I Grissom Middle School is a middle school covering grades 06-08.
How many students per teacher at Virgil I Grissom Middle School?
Approximately 15.6:1 students per teacher at Virgil I Grissom Middle School.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Virgil I Grissom Middle School?
At Virgil I Grissom Middle School, the student body is approximately 68% White, 12% Hispanic, 9% Black, 1% Asian, 10% Two or more.
What district is Virgil I Grissom Middle School in?
Virgil I Grissom Middle School is part of Penn-Harris-Madison School Corp.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.