The top reported proficiency rate is 22% in Math. The lowest is 7% in Social studies.
Original Research by School Decision on Enlace Academy
Enlace Academy is a public charter school in Indianapolis serving kindergarten through eighth grade. It operates as its own single-school district, a structure that gives it independent governance over curriculum, staffing, and budget. The school enrolls a substantial number of students for a K-8 charter, with an enrollment that evenly fills each grade level from kindergarten through eighth. The student body is predominantly Hispanic, with a smaller share of Black students and a very small number of White students and students identifying as two or more races. A large majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, marking Enlace as a school serving a community with significant economic need.
Academically, the state assessment results for the most recent school year show that proficiency rates across tested subjects were low. In math, about a fifth of students scored proficient or above. In English language arts, the figure was slightly lower. In science, fewer than a fifth of students reached proficiency. In social studies, a subject tested only in fifth grade, the share of proficient students was very low. These results place Enlace Academy’s overall proficiency index, which averages performance across tested subjects and grades, a little above the midpoint when compared with other districts in Marion County. That is a modest relative position within a large urban county where many schools face similar challenges. The school’s participation rates on the state assessments were high, meaning the results reflect nearly all enrolled students rather than a self-selected group.
The school has no high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report. Data on chronic absenteeism and on students with disabilities or English learner designations were not available in the records reviewed, so a parent would want to ask the school directly about those figures and about how the school supports students in those populations.
The school’s location is in Indianapolis, a large Midwestern city with a dense mix of residential neighborhoods, commercial corridors, and cultural institutions. The housing market in the immediate area, based on the ZIP code data, shows home values and rents that are lower than the national benchmark, consistent with the city’s more affordable profile relative to the broader housing market. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate nationally hovered near six and a half percent in mid-2026, and the national unemployment rate was just above four percent, typical economic context for a family weighing a school choice in this corridor.
A significant recent development for Enlace Academy is a grant from the Lilly Endowment, publicly reported as a major financial injection for the school. The award is intended to accelerate academic and post-secondary success. For a single-school charter district, that kind of outside funding can enable program expansion or resource additions that a small district would not normally have. A parent may want to ask the school how those grant dollars are being used and what specific initiatives or supports they are funding.
Enlace Academy is a school where the typical student faces economic disadvantage and where state test results are below statewide averages across subjects. For a family considering this school, the academic pathway will likely involve heavy intervention and remediation, and the school’s position within Marion County is unremarkable relative to peers on the same metric. The grant award may signal an effort to change that trajectory, but the evidence so far shows results in a narrow band of performance. Families whose priority is high absolute test scores may not find what they are looking for here. Families who value a school that reflects a predominantly Hispanic cultural and linguistic community, that operates with charter flexibility and independent leadership, and that is transparent about its enrollment numbers and economic composition, may want to learn more about how the staff and programs are structured to meet students where they are. The school’s grade span stops at eighth grade, so a parent will need to plan for a high school transition after this point.
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