The top reported proficiency rate is 14% in Math. The lowest is 0% in Social studies.
Original Research by School Decision on Success Academy at Boys and Girls Club
Success Academy at Boys and Girls Club is a public charter school district serving kindergarten through fifth grade in St. Joseph County. It opened in the fall of 2023 through a partnership between the Career and Success Academy Network and the Boys & Girls Clubs of St. Joseph County, funded in part by a state grant. This is a new school, still young, and its academic record is just beginning to take shape.
The school brings a deliberately different approach to elementary education. Students attend traditional classroom instruction most of the week and spend a fifth day on experiential, project-based learning in real-world community settings, aimed at early career exploration. Classrooms are organized into multi-age pods—K-1, 2-3, and 4-5—and use a co-teaching model pairing certified teachers with Youth Development Professionals. The curriculum is competency-based with an emphasis on STEM. For families seeking an alternative to conventional elementary schooling, this model is the central draw.
Enrollment is small and the student body is predominantly Black, with smaller shares of White, Hispanic, and multiracial students. Data on economic disadvantage, special education, and English learner status is not reported, so a parent would want to ask the school directly about the support structures in place for those groups.
On the state’s ILEARN assessments, proficiency rates are low across all tested subjects: math, English language arts, science, and fifth-grade social studies. Fewer than one in seven students scored at the proficient level or above in math and ELA, and results in science and social studies were lower still. When placed alongside the other districts in St. Joseph County, the school’s overall proficiency index sits in the bottom quarter. The school is very new, and these are its first reported results, which may reflect a starting point rather than a settled trajectory. A parent researching options will want to discuss academic supports, intervention strategies, and the school’s own benchmarks with the staff.
There is no graduation rate to consider because the school serves only elementary grades. Chronic absenteeism and per-pupil spending data are also unavailable for this report. The district brief notes the distinctive pedagogy but does not include broader community context or housing market information; that gap means a family would need to research South Bend neighborhoods independently.
Success Academy at Boys and Girls Club is a small, newly launched public charter offering an experiential, pod-based, STEM-focused elementary program. Its test results are very low relative to other county districts, and the school has yet to build an established academic track record. For a parent who values the project-based, community-connected model and is comfortable with a school that is still finding its footing, this could be worth a closer look. For a parent whose priority is strong test scores and a more traditional academic profile, the evidence so far points to significant challenges.
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