The top reported proficiency rate is 51% in Math. The lowest is 27% in Social studies.
Original Research by School Decision on Mildred Merkley Elementary School
Mildred Merkley Elementary School serves kindergarten through fifth grade as one of four elementary schools in the School Town of Highland, a public school district in Lake County, Indiana. This is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet school. The school sits in Highland, a predominantly residential suburb in the Chicago metro area that is largely built out and has a stable to slightly declining population. The town has a small downtown, a network of neighborhood parks, and connections to the broader region via the nearby Borman Expressway and South Shore Line commuter rail stations that opened in early 2026. Home values and rents in the area are near the middle of the pack for the state, and the local housing market has seen modest appreciation.
The student body at Mildred Merkley is diverse. White students make up the largest share, followed by Hispanic students and then Black students, with smaller populations of Asian students and students of two or more races. About half of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating that a substantial share of families face some economic pressure. The school is roughly mid-sized for an elementary school serving these grades, with classes spread across kindergarten through fifth grade.
On the Indiana ILEARN state assessments, Mildred Merkley’s overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades places it in the top quartile relative to all other districts within Lake County. This comparison set includes twenty-seven districts in the county, and the school comes in above the middle of that group. That said, a closer look at specific subjects reveals a more complicated picture. In math, roughly half of students met the proficiency bar. In English language arts, the proficiency rate was a bit lower, with fewer than half of students scoring at that level. In science, tested only at certain grades, the share of proficient students was close to half. In social studies, tested only at fifth grade, the proficiency rate was lower still, with about a quarter of students reaching that level. A parent may want to ask the school about trends in literacy and social studies support.
The school does not have publicly reported data on chronic absenteeism or on the share of students receiving special education services or English language instruction. These gaps are common in elementary-level reporting from some states, but a parent may want to ask the school directly about how it supports students who are learning English or who have individualized education plans.
No recent district-level changes were identified from public sources that would alter a family’s assessment of this school. The School Town of Highland did not appear to have had a recent referendum, curriculum shift, or property tax change that meets a four-year lasting-impact bar. The district appears to have been operating on a steady footing, without major disruptions or transformations that would be material to a family choosing a school.
For a family considering this school, the big picture is this: Mildred Merkley is a mainstream elementary school in a stable, aging suburb with a diverse student body. Academically, it performs above the median compared with other schools in Lake County, but not uniformly across subjects. Literacy and social studies are areas where the school’s results are softer, and a parent may want to understand how the school addresses those subjects. The town itself offers a typical suburban environment with parks, a small downtown, and access to Chicago by commuter rail. The housing market is moderate, and the community is largely built out, so the school’s enrollment context is unlikely to shift dramatically in the near term. This school fits a family looking for a public elementary option in a stable, mid-priced suburban setting with above-average but not top-tier test outcomes relative to the county.
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