The top reported proficiency rate is 47% in Math. The lowest is 7% in Social studies.
Original Research by School Decision on Willard Shambaugh Elementary Sch
Willard Shambaugh Elementary School serves kindergarten through fifth grade in the Fort Wayne Community Schools district, a regular public school located in a residential part of Indiana’s second-largest city. The school enrolls a student body that is predominantly white, with a notable share of students who identify as two or more races, and smaller populations of Black and Hispanic students. More than half of students come from low-income households, as measured by the share who qualify for free or reduced-price meals. The school is not a charter or magnet school, and its Title I status was not reported in the available data.
Fort Wayne is a mid-sized Midwestern city with a working-class industrial heritage that has seen sustained redevelopment investment in recent years. The city’s downtown walkable core has grown around riverfront parks, a minor league baseball stadium, and the redeveloped Electric Works campus, while the broader metro area remains car-dependent. The district recently reorganized its high school program into career-themed Schools of Success, an ongoing curriculum change that begins with the class of 2028, but that change does not affect Shambaugh’s elementary grades.
On the ILEARN state assessments, proficiency rates at Shambaugh sit near the midpoint among Allen County elementary schools when averaged across tested subjects and grades. In math, a substantial share of students met the state’s proficiency standard, with a figure that falls above the county-wide median among tested schools. In English language arts, the proficiency rate is lower, in a range that places the school around the county midpoint. Science proficiency follows a similar pattern, with a rate that is also in the middle of the county distribution. Social studies testing, administered only at fifth grade, shows a very low proficiency rate; a parent with a fifth-grader may want to look into this further with the school. Participation rates on the state assessments were reportedly high, with full participation in math and English language arts and no data reported for science or social studies.
The school’s performance profile overall suggests a typical elementary school within its county context, with math results as a relative strength and literacy and social studies as areas that families may wish to examine more closely. No chronic absenteeism or graduation data are available, which is expected for a K-through-5 school that does not serve high school grades.
Housing in the area around the school carries a price point near the Indiana state average, with home values that have risen modestly in the past year. Rents have increased more sharply, and the monthly cost of renting is below the estimated mortgage payment for a median-priced home, a spread that may matter to families weighing whether to buy or rent. The local unemployment rate is low by national standards, and median household income in the broader economy sits in the high tens of thousands.
For families considering Shambaugh, the school offers a neighborhood elementary setting in a large district with a recent track record of downtown investment and a new high school pathway system starting in a few years. The student body draws from a predominantly white, lower-to-middle-income community, and the school’s academic results run close to the middle of Allen County schools, with math as the stronger subject. The social studies result is a clear soft spot, and a parent should ask the school how it addresses that content area, especially given that state testing in social studies happens only at fifth grade. There are no program offerings, staff-student ratios, or chronic absenteeism figures available in the public record for this school, which limits a full picture of daily conditions.
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