The top reported proficiency rate is 36% in Math. The lowest is 28% in Social studies.
Original Research by School Decision on Goshen Intermediate School
Goshen Intermediate School serves fifth and sixth graders in the Goshen Community Schools district, a public school housed on the south side of Goshen. It is a dedicated intermediate campus, which means students from the district’s six elementary schools come together here for two years before moving to junior high. The enrollment is large for a school covering just two grades, and nearly three-quarters of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, reflecting a community where a substantial share of families are cost-burdened. The student body is majority Hispanic, with a strong white presence and smaller shares of multiracial, Black, and Asian students.
Goshen itself is a mid-sized city that blends a historic downtown core with heavy industry, especially recreational vehicle and automotive parts manufacturing. The Hispanic/Latino population makes up a large portion of the city’s workforce demographics, and the school’s composition mirrors that reality. The city has a walkable downtown anchored by the Elkhart County Courthouse and a Mennonite liberal arts college, but the public schools are spread across separate campuses rather than concentrated downtown. Housing values in the area are moderately above the Indiana median for single-family homes, and rents are near the national average relative to income, making the area generally affordable compared to the national market.
On the most recent state assessments, Goshen Intermediate’s overall proficiency across math, English language arts, science, and social studies placed below the midpoint among the county’s districts. That is a soft spot. The school’s proficiency in reading and math is well below the typical level for Indiana’s grade 3-8 tests. Science and social studies proficiency are similarly low. A parent looking at these results may want to ask the school about academic supports and how the curriculum addresses these gaps. Because the school only serves two grades, there is no graduation rate to consider.
The district does not appear to have undergone any major recent changes that would affect this school’s operations. The school is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet, and no information was available about Title I status. Civil rights data, discipline data, and course access information were not provided, so it is not possible to speak to those dimensions of the student experience.
The peer environment at Goshen Intermediate is shaped by its large size and high economic need. Students come from across the city, bringing together children from different neighborhoods. The absence of data on English learner and special education populations is a gap; a parent may want to confirm directly with the school what supports are available for those groups. The school’s location on the south side, near Goshen College and industrial areas, means it is not directly in the downtown core but is within a short drive of most parts of the city.
For a family considering this school, the key takeaway is that it serves a high-needs population in a manufacturing-based community, and its academic proficiency on state tests is on the lower end compared to other Elkhart County districts. The school’s strength is that it provides a focused intermediate program as a bridge between elementary and junior high, with a single campus that concentrates its resources on two grade levels. The housing market in Goshen is relatively accessible for buyers, and the city offers parks, trails, and a lively downtown with regular events. The academic results suggest that a family looking for a school with strong testing outcomes may want to research what initiatives the school has in place to raise performance.
See more original research from School Decision →