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Honest take: what's the hardest part about being a student at Walt Disney Elementary School?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
512
Elementary
DISTRICT 454 · STATE 436
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·PENN-HARRIS-MADISON SCHOOL CORP·NCES 180876001454
Walt Disney Elementary School
4015 N Filbert Rd, Mishawaka, IN 46545 · (574) 259-2486 · St. Joseph County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY13-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL512 STUDENTS
B+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 67% of Indiana public elementary 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 elementary schools
Student : Teacher
16.0:1
32 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 17.4:1 · STATE 15.5:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
61%
314 students
DISTRICT 36% · STATE 50%
Community
5
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten | 60 | 12% |
| Grade 1 | 83 | 16% |
| Grade 2 | 99 | 19% |
| Grade 3 | 86 | 17% |
| Grade 4 | 84 | 16% |
| Grade 5 | 100 | 20% |
This year's kindergarten class (60) is 40% smaller than its 5th grade class (100).
Student demographics
73%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
Test scores
ILEARN 2024-25 . % At or Above ProficiencyEnglish Language Arts
41.4%
IN avg 39.2%
Math
51.1%
IN avg 41.1%
What this means: On the ILEARN, Indiana's statewide test, about 41 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 51 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
43.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
32.1%
based on IN schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+10.8pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 43% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 32% 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 Walt Disney Elementary School
Walt Disney Elementary School's state test result (43.0% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Walt Disney Elementary School this school | 512 | 61.3% | 43.0% |
| Sycamore Elementary School Avon | 512 | 55.7% | 65.2% |
| Hickory Elementary School Avon | 589 | 55.3% | 56.8% |
| W E Wilson Elementary Jeffersonville | 518 | 66.4% | 29.6% |
| Arlington Elementary School Fort Wayne | 418 | 55.0% | 36.1% |
| Robert C Harris Elementary School Fort Wayne | 360 | 61.9% | 39.6% |
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 Walt Disney Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Indiana | In St. Joseph County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 43.0% | #456 of 983 | #17 of 40 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 51.1% | #391 of 986 | #17 of 40 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 41.4% | #424 of 986 | #15 of 40 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 512 | #351 of 1,079 | #10 of 42 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 16.0:1 | #663 of 991 | #24 of 39 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 72.7% | #31 of 996 | #3 of 39 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 61.3% | #328 of 1,058 | #16 of 41 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -2.1% | #550 of 597 | #23 of 26 |
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
512
+15 (+3%) vs 2020
+26% since 1990-91, when it was 406
Student : Teacher
16.0:1
was 19.1:1
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 | 512 | 32 | 16.0:1 | 61% (314) |
| 2023-24 | 521 | 31.8 | 16.4:1 | 55% (287) |
| 2022-23 | 521 | 31.2 | 16.7:1 | 56% (294) |
| 2020-21 | 497 | 26 | 19.1:1 | 49% (242) |
| 2017-18 | 523 | 26 | 20.1:1 | 59% (311) |
| 2015-16 | 482 | 24 | 20.1:1 | 58% (281) |
| 2010-11 | 484 | 21 | 23.1:1 | 55% (268) |
| 2000-01 | 359 | 18 | 19.9:1 | 26% (92) |
| 1990-91 | 406 | 19 | 21.4:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Walt Disney Elementary School.
About Walt Disney Elementary School
Walt Disney Elementary School is an elementary school located in Mishawaka, Indiana, in St. Joseph County. The school had 512 students in kindergarten through 5 in 2024-25.
Walt Disney Elementary School is part of a district of 15 schools: Penn-Harris-Madison School Corp, with 11,329 students.
No single group makes up more than half of enrollment at Walt Disney Elementary School. The largest is White students, at 38%. The next largest groups are 31% Black, 14% Hispanic, 9% multiracial, and 8% Asian. In St. Joseph County overall, about 71% of residents are White. The school's diversity index is 73%, meaning two students picked at random have a 73% chance of belonging to different racial or ethnic groups.
The school has about 16.0 students per teacher and 32 full-time-equivalent teachers. That is close to the 15.5:1 average for elementary schools in Indiana. Federal records put free or reduced-price lunch eligibility at 61%. That rate is above the 46% average among public schools in St. Joseph County.
Measured against Indiana public elementary schools, Walt Disney Elementary School receives a B+. The grade weighs proficiency most heavily, then how results compare with what the school's low-income share predicts, then the three-year change.
A school with Walt Disney Elementary School's lunch-eligibility share in Indiana is predicted to score 32.1%. Walt Disney Elementary School scores 43.0%, 10.8 points above that line.
In St. Joseph County (population about 273,040), the median household income is $66,868, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 34%, and roughly 9% of residents are in poverty. Walt Disney Elementary School is one of 73 public schools in the county.
Liberty Elementary School is the closest public school, about 1.1 miles away in a straight line. Other public schools within five miles number at least 8. Among 8 nearby schools that report test results, Walt Disney Elementary School ranks 2nd on proficiency.
Locale: City: Small. In NCES terms, the school is inside a principal city with a population under 100,000.
Enrollment grew 3% from its 2020-21 level of 497. The ratio of students to teachers went from 19.1:1 to 16.0:1 over the same years.
Topics for discussion here include science fairs, picture day, and bus routes. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.
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
- Virgil I Grissom Middle SchoolMiddle · 662 students
- Northpoint Elementary SchoolElementary · 577 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
- Virgil I Grissom Middle SchoolMiddle · 662 students
- Lasalle Elementary SchoolElementary · 519 students
Other Walt Disney Elementary schools
8 other US public schools in 7 states are named Walt Disney Elementary. Walt Disney Elementary School is the 3rd largest of the 9.
- Walt Disney ElementarySan Ramon, CA · 523 students
- WALT DISNEY ELEM.SPRINGFIELD, MO · 514 students
- Walt Disney Elementary SchoolALVIN, TX · 457 students
- Walt Disney ElementaryBurbank, CA · 419 students
- Walt Disney Elementary SchoolLevittown, PA · 373 students
Nearby schools
- Liberty Elementary School1.1 mi · 446
- Paramount School of Excellence South Bend1.6 mi · 476
- John J Young Middle School1.6 mi · 709
- Battell Elementary School1.9 mi · 291
- Edison Middle School2.1 mi · 551
- Mishawaka High School2.4 mi · 1,327
Frequently asked questions
About Walt Disney Elementary SchoolHow large is Walt Disney Elementary School?
Walt Disney Elementary School enrolls approximately 512 students in grades KG-05.
What age range does Walt Disney Elementary School serve?
Walt Disney Elementary School serves students from grade KG through grade 05.
How many teachers does Walt Disney Elementary School have?
Walt Disney Elementary School employs 32 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 16.0:1.
What is the student diversity at Walt Disney Elementary School?
Student demographics at Walt Disney Elementary School are roughly 38% White, 14% Hispanic, 31% Black, 8% Asian, 9% Two or more.
What district is Walt Disney Elementary School in?
Walt Disney Elementary 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.