The top reported proficiency rate is 27% in Math. The lowest is 12% in Social studies.
Original Research by School Decision on Forest Park Elementary School
Forest Park Elementary School serves students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade and is part of the Clay Community Schools district in Brazil, Indiana. It is a regular public school, neither a charter nor a magnet. The school sits in a small Midwestern county seat where civic life centers on a historic downtown anchored by the Clay County Courthouse and the Brazil Downtown Historic District, both listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The city has seen organized downtown revitalization through a Main Street nonprofit that has focused on art projects and economic development over the past decade. A free public library and a downtown fountain replica from the country of Brazil are among the community’s landmarks. The town has a traditional grid-based layout typical of a county seat, with residential neighborhoods surrounding a compact commercial core.
Enrollment at Forest Park is for about that grade band. The student body is predominantly white, with small shares of Hispanic students and multiracial students. A substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which places the school in a higher-poverty context. Information on the share of students with disabilities or English learner status was not available in the data provided.
State assessment results from Indiana’s ILEARN tests, covering the most recent school year, showed low proficiency rates across all subjects tested. In math, a modest share of students met proficiency standards. In English language arts, the proportion reaching proficiency was smaller. In science, about a quarter of tested students demonstrated proficiency. In social studies, a very small share of fifth graders met the bar. Participation rates were high for the math and ELA tests, meaning the results reflect nearly all eligible students. The school does not serve grades beyond fifth, so there is no graduation rate to report.
The school’s overall academic performance sits in a context where a large share of families face economic challenges. A parent may want to look into what academic supports the school offers for students who are not yet meeting grade-level expectations and how the district addresses early literacy and math foundations. No data on course access, staffing ratios, discipline, or chronic absenteeism was available, so those aspects of the school environment are not described here.
Forest Park is one of several elementary schools in the Clay Community Schools district. Because Clay County has only a single school district, there are no direct comparisons to other local districts in the county for proficiency or other metrics. Housing values in the Brazil area are below both the state and national medians, consistent with a small rural county seat. The local unemployment rate as of the most recent data was slightly above the national figure, and median household income in the United States was roughly mid-eighty-thousand dollars.
Families considering Forest Park Elementary are looking at a small-town public school serving an economically diverse but predominantly low-income student population. The school provides a pre-K through fifth grade pathway within a district that covers a mostly rural county. The academic results indicate room for growth in core subjects, and the broader community offers a historic downtown, a library, and local civic organizations.
See more original research from School Decision →