The top reported proficiency rate is 44% in Math. The lowest is 25% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Parkside Elementary School
Parkside Elementary School serves kindergarten through fourth grade in Goshen, Indiana, as part of Goshen Community Schools. It is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet. The school sits on the south side of Goshen, a mid-sized city whose economy is built around recreational vehicle and automotive component manufacturing. Goshen blends a historic residential core with significant industrial activity, and its Hispanic/Latino population reflects the city's industrial workforce. The school is one of six elementary schools in the district, which also includes an intermediate school, a junior high, and a high school spread across the city rather than concentrated downtown.
Parkside enrolls a student body that is roughly evenly split between white students and Hispanic students, with small numbers of Asian, Black, and multiracial students. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating that the school serves a population with significant economic need. The school serves kindergarten through fourth grade, so there is no graduation rate to report, and the grade band means that state testing results cover only the grades that are tested.
On the Indiana ILEARN assessments, the school's overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades sits below the midpoint when compared with other districts in Elkhart County. In math, a little under half of students scored at the proficient or above level. In English language arts, the share of students reaching proficiency was lower, and in science it was lower still. Social studies data is available from an earlier year and shows a similar pattern. These results give a clear picture: the school's academic performance is a soft spot, and a parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand what supports are in place and how the school is working to improve outcomes.
The school's student body is diverse, with a roughly even split between white and Hispanic students, and small numbers of Asian, Black, and multiracial students. This composition is a plain characteristic of the school, reflecting the broader Goshen community where the Hispanic population is a substantial share of the city's industrial workforce. The school is one of six elementary schools in the Goshen Community Schools district, which also includes an intermediate school, a junior high, and a high school. The district's schools are spread across the city rather than concentrated in one area, so the elementary a child attends depends on where a family lives.
Goshen itself is a mid-sized city with a historic downtown anchored by the Elkhart County Courthouse. The local economy is dominated by RV and automotive manufacturing, with major employers like Forest River, Keystone, and Benteler. Goshen College, a small Mennonite liberal arts college, sits on the south side of town. The city has a walkable downtown with regular First Fridays events, and a network of trails including the Pumpkinvine Nature Trail and the Maple City Greenway. Housing values in the area are near the state benchmark, and rents are moderate relative to national averages. The district brief turned up little in the way of recent major changes or initiatives, so there is no recent district-level news to report.
For a family considering Parkside, the key factors are the school's academic performance, which is below the county midpoint, and its role as a neighborhood elementary school in a district with multiple elementary options. The school's economic diversity and the city's industrial character are plain features of the setting. A parent would want to visit, talk to the principal about academic support and improvement efforts, and consider how the school's current performance aligns with their expectations for early elementary education.
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