The top reported proficiency rate is 14% in English language arts. The lowest is 5% in Social studies.
Original Research by School Decision on Higher Institute of Arts & Tech
Higher Institute of Arts & Tech is a single-building charter school serving kindergarten through eighth grade in Merrillville, Indiana. It operates as its own school district, so there is no larger district administration above it. The school sits on Harrison Street in a town that functions as the retail and commercial hub of northwestern Indiana, clustered around the interchange of Interstate 65 and US Route 30. Merrillville is car-oriented suburban sprawl, built around shopping centers and office parks rather than a walkable downtown core. The town has seen modest recent population growth and the town government reports an active development climate focused on data centers and mixed-use projects, but the school itself is a small, standalone operation within this landscape.
The school enrolls roughly a few hundred students across kindergarten through eighth grade. Grade-level populations are relatively balanced, with no single grade dramatically larger than the others. The student body is predominantly Black, with very small shares of white, Hispanic, and multiracial students. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, placing the school in a high-poverty bracket. Information on students with disabilities and English learners was not available in the data provided for this profile.
State testing results from Indiana's ILEARN assessments show low proficiency rates in every subject tested. In math and English language arts, the share of students scoring proficient or above was far below the state average. In science, proficiency was also very low, and in fifth-grade social studies, proficiency was even lower, with only a handful of students reaching the proficient level. The school's overall proficiency index, which averages performance across all tested subjects and grades, places it in the bottom quartile relative to other school districts in Lake County Parents considering the school may want to discuss instructional strategies and academic support with the school directly, as these results suggest significant challenges in core academic areas. Participation rates on the tests were at or near full participation, so the results reflect the experience of the full tested student body.
The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report. Chronic absenteeism data was also not available in the data provided. The school's program offerings were not listed in the data, so it is unclear what arts or technology-focused programming the school's name implies. The district brief, which searched for parent-relevant changes such as a referendum, boundary shift, or curriculum overhaul, found no such changes in recent years. The school appears to be stable in its operations and governance.
The broader Merrillville area offers the amenities of a regional retail and employment center, including major employers like a Fortune 500 energy company and a large hospitality management firm. The town has a community center, parks, a waterpark, and a public library. Housing values in the area are somewhat below the Indiana statewide benchmark but well below national averages, and rents are similarly positioned relative to state norms. The local public school system is the Merrillville Community School Corporation, but Higher Institute of Arts & Tech is a separate charter entity drawing its students from across the area through a school-choice enrollment process.
For a family considering this school, the profile is defined by a small, single-building charter with high student poverty, a racially concentrated student body, and state test results that are markedly lower than most other districts in Lake County. The school's name suggests a thematic focus on arts and technology, but no specific programming details were available to confirm what that means in practice. The residential housing market in the broader Merrillville area is moderately priced relative to the state. This is a school where a parent would want to visit, ask about curriculum, enrichment, and how the school addresses the academic challenges the test data reveals, before making an enrollment decision.
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