Original Research by School Decision on Neighbors' New Vistas High School
Neighbors' New Vistas High School is a small district in Porter County, Indiana, that serves students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade. Despite the "PK through 12" grade band, the enrollment data tells a more specific story: the district's 130 students are concentrated in high school grades, with only a handful in ninth grade and the rest spread across tenth through twelfth grade, plus some ungraded students. There are no students enrolled in kindergarten through eighth grade. For all practical purposes, this is a high school serving older adolescents.
The student body is racially and ethnically diverse. Roughly half of the students are white, about a quarter are Black, and about a quarter are Hispanic, with a very small number of students identifying as two or more races. Information on the share of students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, receive special education services, or are English learners is absent from the data. A parent considering this school would likely want to ask the district directly about these support structures.
State testing data is not available for this district, so there is no way to characterize academic proficiency or growth through those standard measures. The same gap applies to graduation rates and chronic absenteeism. The comparison fact-set notes that the chronic absenteeism metric exists for this district, but the reported rate places it in the bottom quartile among the nine districts in Porter County. However, the entity value for that metric was listed as 100, which may reflect a data reporting issue or a very small population where one or two students can drive the rate to an extreme. A parent may want to clarify this with the school directly, as the figure as reported suggests every student was chronically absent, which is unusual.
Per-pupil current spending for this district is well above the median among Porter County schools, placing it in the upper range. This level of spending, combined with the small size of the district, suggests a high degree of resource concentration.
The most significant change to this school came in July 2025, shortly before this analysis, when it was acquired by Options Schools, Inc., a multi-campus Indiana charter network. The school was renamed Options New Vistas High School. The acquisition was approved by both the Options Schools and the previous operator's boards in April 2025. This means the school is now part of a larger charter network with established practices in individualized education, flexible scheduling, and small class sizes. For families, this governance shift introduces new leadership and potential changes to academic programs, staffing, and policies. The previous operator, Neighbors' Educational Opportunities, continues to operate an adult education program in partnership with the school, so that connection remains.
The school is a single-campus district, with only one school listed under its umbrella: Neighbors' New Vistas High School.
Overall, this is a small, specialized high school setting that has just undergone a notable governance transition. The lack of standard academic performance data and the ambiguous chronic absenteeism figure leave significant unanswered questions about student outcomes. The high per-pupil spending and the new network affiliation could be positives, but there is no evidence available to confirm that now. A family interested in this school would benefit from direct conversations with the new administration about academic expectations, student support, and how the Options Schools model will be implemented here.
See more original research from School Decision →