The top reported proficiency rate is 41% in Math. The lowest is 27% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Meredith Nicholson Elementary Sch
Meredith Nicholson Elementary School is a regular public school in Crawfordsville, Indiana, serving only second and third graders. It is part of Crawfordsville Community Schools, the district covering this Montgomery County seat. Because the school holds students for just two years, families should expect their child to move to a different school within the district after grade three.
Crawfordsville is a county seat with a mixed industrial and college-town character. Major employers include Nucor Steel, Lakeside Book Company, Ivy Tech Community College, and Wabash College, a private liberal arts men’s college. The city has a compact downtown historic district, an Amtrak stop, and public transportation. Median home values and rents in the area are below national averages, making the community more affordable than many parts of Indiana. The city’s population has seen modest growth in recent years, and the housing market has been rising, though not as sharply as nationally.
The school enrolls a student body that is predominantly white, with a substantial Hispanic minority. A large majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, indicating a high-poverty student population. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available in the records examined, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about its special education and language support services.
State assessment results for the most recent school year show that the school’s overall proficiency across math and English language arts sits in the bottom quarter when compared with other districts in Montgomery County. Math proficiency is below the midpoint of county districts, and English language arts proficiency is lower still. These results reflect the performance of the school’s third graders, the only tested grade. The school’s participation rate on the assessments was high, so the results are a fair picture of that cohort’s achievement. No multi-year trend data was available, so it is unclear whether these results are an improvement or decline from prior years.
Because the school does not serve high school grades, no graduation rate applies. Data on chronic absenteeism, discipline, and staffing was also missing from the information reviewed. A family considering this school should investigate what academic interventions and enrichment are available, particularly in reading, given the lower ELA scores.
Overall, Meredith Nicholson Elementary is a small, two-grade public school in an affordable, historic manufacturing and college town. Its student body faces significant economic challenges, and its state test results trail those of most county neighbors. The school’s narrow grade span means the experience here is a short one; the transition to another school after third grade is built into the district structure.
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