The top reported proficiency rate is 65% in Social studies. The lowest is 37% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Helfrich Park Stem Academy
Helfrich Park STEM Academy serves students in grades six through eight as a regular public middle school within the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation. Its enrollment is sizable for a standalone middle school, and its student body is majority white, with smaller but notable shares of Black, Hispanic, and multiracial students. Roughly half of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a marker that a significant portion of families are in lower-income brackets.
On the 2024–25 Indiana ILEARN assessments, about two in five students met or exceeded state standards in both math and English language arts, and a similar proportion did so in science. The school’s social studies results come from an older testing cycle and a different assessment, so they offer less current comparison. When measured against other schools in Vanderburgh County, Helfrich Park’s combined proficiency across tested subjects places it in the top quarter of the county’s districts. That is a strong relative position—consistent with the “STEM Academy” designation, though the available data does not include specific details about the science, technology, engineering, or math programs, course offerings, or partnerships that might define the STEM focus. A parent interested in the curriculum and elective pathways should look into this further with the school.
Because Helfrich Park serves only middle grades, there is no graduation rate to report, and data on chronic absenteeism, discipline, staffing, and special education or English learner populations were not available in this profile. Those gaps mean that aspects like student support services, teacher experience, and within-school equity are not captured here.
The school sits in Evansville, a mid-sized city that acts as the commercial, medical, and cultural hub for the tri-state area of southwestern Indiana, southeastern Illinois, and northwestern Kentucky. Manufacturing, healthcare, and retail anchor the local economy. The city’s population has seen a modest decline over the past several years, and median home values and rents in the surrounding zip code are in a moderate range relative to national benchmarks. Housing affordability is reasonable by national standards, with estimated monthly mortgage and rent costs that are not extreme. The neighborhood around Helfrich Park is a well-established part of the city’s west side, with a mix of residential blocks and nearby commercial corridors. The school building itself is located on West Maryland Street, within a short drive of downtown and the riverfront.
Evansville’s broader civic landscape includes the University of Evansville and the University of Southern Indiana, along with major parks, a zoo, a downtown arena, and a public transit system. The city’s Department of Metropolitan Development oversees redevelopment and affordable housing efforts, signaling active, if incremental, growth management.
For a family evaluating Helfrich Park, the defining feature is its relative academic performance within the county—strong enough to rank among the top schools in the local comparison set. The student body is fairly diverse economically and somewhat less so racially. The STEM designation offers a thematic focus, but the specifics of that focus are not documented in the available materials. This is a middle school with solid tested outcomes in its district context, set in a stable, moderately priced urban environment with the amenities of a regional hub.
See more original research from School Decision →